YuGiOh! Reigns Of A New Champion
by KamikazePyro
Summary: AU continuation after an undetermined point in the series  after BC . OCs mixed in with the characters of the series.
1. Beginnings of a New Champion

**Chapter 1: Beginnings of A New Champion**

"I won!" exclaimed young, amateur duelist Shawn. He raised his right arm in victory and smiled gleefully. His spiked brown hair gleamed in the sunlight shining through the windows of the classroom.

His chubby opponent scooped up his cards, hanging his head in defeat as he walked away. Two kids, a male and a female, stood behind Shawn, patting him on the back.

"Did you see that, Mindy? I totally kicked that kid's butt!" Shawn said, turning to the female, his joyful attitude causing her to crack up. "Hey, what's so funny?"  
>Mindy, scarlet-haired and pale, folded her arms and replied, "You're just funny, Shawn. You're so excited about one win."<p>

"Well, yeah, why not? I mean, you never know when you're going to win again, so you might as well enjoy it while you can." Shawn faced the male beside her, who towered above them both. "What did you think, Sam? Did I do okay?"

Rubbing his chin, Sam nodded. "You did fine, but there are a few things I would have done differently." _Actually, quite a lot of things._

Shawn leaned in, clearly intrigued, wondering what his friend had to say. "Like what? I thought I did everything as best I could." _I did everything the pros would have done; at least I think I did._

"Not exactly. For one, you left yourself open during that last move. If Chum would've had a trap laid for you, you wouldn't have had anything to defend yourself with. Secondly, you're too offensive. You need to scale back and analyze the situation before you go rushing in with your monsters…" He moved to the other side of Shawn's table, taking a seat where Chum had previously been, and removed his deck from his white button-up T-shirt. "Let's duel."

Slightly confused by this request, Shawn asked, "Are you serious? I won't go easy on you just because we're best friends." _I hope you go easy on me, though. You're really good._

"Good," Sam said, placing his deck in the middle of the table, Shawn doing the same. They each cut the other's deck, then shuffled and retrieved their own. _Hm, if I go first, I'll win the duel in two turns, and that'll shatter Shawn's confidence. I have to let him go first._ "You can go first, Shawn."

"Okay, but you'll regret that." Shawn drew his sixth card, beginning his turn. He stared at his hand, then grabbed one card and placed it on the table. "Ah! I summon Ryu-Kishin [3/1000/500] and place one card face-down."

"Decent monster to start with, but not quite good enough, I'm afraid," said Sam as he began his turn, scanning his hand for strategies. "I'll Set one monster, and then put down two face-downs."

Mindy took a seat next to Shawn, straightening out her skirt as she leaned in to get a closer look at his hand. She studied it, humming a song as she did. Shawn bit his lip a little as she got closer to him, finding it hard not to think of her instead of the duel.

"I-I'll attack with R-Ryu-Kishin!" Shawn commanded, trying not to mess up his monster's name in front of his crush. _Crap, I hope my stuttering doesn't disgust her!_

Sam flipped his face-down monster, revealing it to be Stone Statue of the Aztecs [4/300/2000]. "My monster's special ability doubles any damage you received by attacking him. That means you lose 2000 Life Points already, Shawn [_Shawn: 4000 - 2000_]. I warned you about being too offensive. You never know what your opponent has face-down."

Shawn groaned, disturbed that Sam was right about his aggressiveness. _Too bad he didn't think I'd have a backup plan._ "In that case, I'll activate this Spell Card – Fissure! It destroys the monster with the lowest attack on your side of the field, and your Stone Statue is the only monster you control, so goodbye to that!"

"I thought you'd try to get rid of my monster with a Spell or Trap Card once you figured out you couldn't destroy it using conventional means, so I laid a trap." Sam flipped one of his two face-downs, revealing a purple-colored card. "It's a handy Trap Card called Magic Jammer. By discarding one card from my hand, I can negate the activation of a Spell Card and destroy it."

"What? I thought that would have been an Enchanted Javelin or something. Darn." Shawn's face fell as his plan was foiled. _Now I look like a fool in front of Mindy. Great._

"If you thought that was all, you're mistaken." Sam flipped his other face-down card. "This is called Compulsory Evacuation Device. It returns one monster on the field to the owner's hand, and I'm choosing your Ryu-Kishin."

Shawn put his hands down on the table in shock. "What! But then I'll be defenseless when your turn begins! Ah, no!" _Man, Sam's probably not even trying his hardest and he's still whooping me, and in front of Mindy, no less._

Sam nodded his head. "That's right. Now you see why blindly attacking is not always the best choice. Now, my move begins." He drew a card and grinned. "I'll summon Hitotsu-Me Giant [4/1200/1000], and attack you directly!" [Shawn: 2000 - 800]

Gripping his spiked hair, Shawn was blown back by how easily his friend was destroying him. Since enrolling at his school, he'd never dueled anybody as skilled as Sam. He looked at his hand and checked the card he had face-down on the field. _I have no options left. Sam's got my number, and there's nothing I can do about it. If I drew the right card I could save myself, but…the chances of that happening are slim to none. Maybe I should fake a stomach ache, but I doubt Sam would believe me. He's too smart. Crap, what should I do?_

Seeing her friend in trouble, Mindy chimed in, "You can do this, Shawn." She laid her hand on top of his, squeezing with just the right amount of pressure to let him know she was there for him in her own way. "You just have to believe in your deck, that's all."

Shawn stared into her eyes, looking for confirmation. "But… Are you sure?"

She smiled comfortingly, raising Shawn's spirits, and giving him a confidence boost. "Trust me. Believe in your cards and they won't let you down."

His heart beating twice as fast, he could feel the adrenaline pumping through him. Mindy's encouragement gave him new hope for defeating his best friend, and maybe even scoring some points with her.

A small crowd of fellow classmates had begun to form around the table as the duel continued. They all wanted to see two best friends, who just happened to be the best duelists in the school, duke it out. The aura around the duel changed from a friendly competition to a slugfest in a matter of seconds. Sam sat on his side, arms folded and with a poker face on, waiting for his opponent to make his move.

Shawn took a deep breath, then exhaled deeply, placing his hand on his deck. _All right, cards, this is it. I know it's just a duel with my best friend, but could you help me out here? I'd really appreciate it. I know we can do this._ He gritted his teeth and looked around him at all the onlookers, and then back at Sam. His mind suddenly became a dark void, the cards in his deck floating in front of him, all neatly lined up and organized. _That's the card I need!_ Almost as if in slow motion, he lifted the card from the top of his deck and immediately placed it on the field, not even looking at it.

Sam's eyes widened a bit as he peered at the card opposing him. "But you didn't even look at it before placing it on the field!"

A smug grin across his face, Shawn yelped, "That's right, and it's the one card I needed to beat you – Ancient Rules! This Spell Card allows me to Special Summon one Level 5 or higher Normal Monster from my hand, and I choose Cyber-Tech Alligator [5/2500/1600]!"

Mindy couldn't help but smile as Shawn started his one-turn-kill maneuver. _I knew you could pull this one out, Shawn. You just needed a little encouragement._

"T-this doesn't change anything," Sam said, a little flustered by Shawn's sudden comeback. "I have a card to get rid of him, and next turn I'll win this duel."

"Well, then it's a good thing there won't be a next turn." Shawn chuckled, overflowing with confidence.

"W-what? What are you talking about? You can't wipe out my Life Points this turn. Your monster isn't powerful enough."

"Not as he is," Shawn began, pulling out two cards from his hand. "But he will be when I play these two spells." He set them on the table, watching as Sam's fists clenched in frustration. "First is my Megamorph card. While my Life Points are lower than my opponent's, all monsters on my side of the field have their attack doubled [Cyber-Tech Alligator: 2,500 - 5,000]. Next is my Limiter Removal. It doubles the attack power of all Machine-Type monsters on my side of the field, bringing my Cyber-Tech Alligator's attack points to a grand total of 10,000. I'll attack your Hitotsu-Me Giant, dealing you a wicked 8,800 points of damage. That's game."

This took Sam by surprise at first, but he quickly recovered his calm and collected personality. _I never expected him to pull off such a grand move like that._ He exhaled slowly, closing his eyes. "Well, Shawn, it looks like you won this. Congratulations. I thought I had all of your moves predicted, but this is one that I did not see happening. Next time, though, I'll be prepared." He scooped up his cards and shook hands with Shawn, who looked like he was about to burst with excitement.

"You went easy on me, didn't you?" Shawn asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sam bowed his head for a moment, sighing. "Yes, I did. I'm sorry, but I didn't want you to feel bad if I beat you quickly. I wanted to teach you a lesson, but it looks like you learned more than I planned on thanks to Mindy."

As he said her name, Mindy popped up next to Shawn, a cheeky smile upon her face. "Oh, it was nothing. Just something I learned from watching Yugi Moto's Battle City duels about a dozen times. Speaking of Battle City, did you guys hear about the tournament starting in a couple days? I heard a lot of really good duelists from around the state are going to participate."

Sam nodded slightly. "Yeah, I've already signed up. I'm preparing a whole new deck for the tournament. What about you, Shawn? Shawn?"

Shawn stepped over to the window, peering out at the KaibaCorp dueling stadium a few miles from the school. Even though it was a ways away, it stuck out as the most brilliant structure in the city. Man, what I wouldn't give to duel competitively there. I've heard so many great stories. I just wish I wasn't such an amateur compared to the pros…

"What's on your mind, Shawn?" Mindy spoke, her soft voice grabbing his attention. She looked outside and noticed the stadium. "Ah, the dueling stadium. Why don't you enter the tournament?"

Shawn bowed his head. "I don't know. There'll be so many great duelists."

Mindy sighed. "Remember what I told you about believing in your deck?"

"Yeah, but this is different," Shawn said, a defeated tone in his voice. "This was an amateur duel at a school. That's a professional tournament. They're in two different dimensions."

Mindy pulled a flyer out of her bra, slapping it onto the window. "Look, it says everybody is welcome to try out. That means you, Shawn. Sam's already entered, and you just beat him, so I know you can do this as well. Go show those pros that you don't need a stupid title to be a good duelist. It's all about your heart and your faith in your cards."

Shawn raised his head, facing her. "What would I do without you, Mindy?" He looked at the flyer, seeing three duelists standing out from the others. "Hm, who are they?"

Sam stood between them, commenting, "The tan one on the left is Derek Myers. From what I've heard, he's the best duelist in the state. He's only been defeated twice in his ten years of dueling. The one in the middle with the McAwesome shirt on is Don Gojira. He's a two-time regional champion, and likes to stomp his opponents with the dragons in his deck, literally. The last guy there is Gavin McKnight. He won the regional championship once, then retired, so for him to be competing here must make this tournament special somehow."

Mindy looked to Shawn, expecting to hear him moan about how great they were and how pitiful he was. She was pleasantly surprised to see a huge grin on his face.

"All right! This sounds awesome!"

"Really? A minute ago you were dead inside, and now you're happy that there are such strong duelists at the tournament? I'm lost." Sam raised an eyebrow, curiosity overcoming him.

"I realized I really should start believing in myself, even in the face of such adversity. Besides, if all else fails, this'll be a fun experience."  
>"Then it's settled," Mindy spoke, retiring the flyer to her bra. "You two will duel in the tournament, and you better make it to the finals."<p>

Shawn chuckled. "Don't worry about us. Why aren't you entering?"

Mindy waved her hand. "I don't do tournaments. They're too competitive for me. I prefer the free-spirited, less technical tabletop dueling." One of her perky breasts began to vibrate, catching Shawn and Sam by surprise.

"Uh…?"

"Sorry, it's probably my mom," Mindy said, reaching into her bra and taking out her cell phone. "I forgot how late it was getting. It's already five o'clock, guys. I'll talk to you after dinner. See ya!" With that, she took off, sprinting out of the classroom and down the hallway.

As her footsteps faded, Sam turned to Shawn, a serious business kind of look on his face. "I guess we should get going as well. I have to work on my deck, seeing as the tournament is in two days, and I assume you do as well."

"I probably should," Shawn responded, rubbing the back of his head. "I won't get very far with my current deck." _No offense, cards, but I think a little tweaking wouldn't hurt._ "I think I'll stop by the card shop on my way home and see if they have any deals. I'm thinking of trying out EARTH monsters, since I already have quite a few in my deck. Peace."

Sam nodded as Shawn left the premises. Aside from two students playing Go Fish in the back of the room, he was the only person left. _I hope you know what you're getting yourself into, Shawn. This isn't like anything you've ever experienced before. The players at the tournament won't go easy on you like I did._ He shifted his position, facing the stadium outside. _As for you, Don, I'll be waiting. I won't forgive you for what you did to my father._


	2. Getting Started

**Chapter 2: Getting Started**

The cool air of Godzilla City blew over Shawn's face as he pedaled toward the card shop, bringing a feeling of calmness and placidity. The local card shop was conveniently located just a block away from the KaibaCorp dueling stadium. It was normally always busy, but because of the tournament starting soon, it was extremely packed. The shop itself was just an old pizzeria that was bought out by KaibaCorp and turned into a card shop. It was relatively large, with an entrance on either side, and then a main entrance in the front. It had a solar panel roof to conserve energy, and a state-of-the-art security system to ensure complete safety of the cards.

Shawn locked his bike up in the bike rack outside the shop. From there, he could already see posters for the tournament taped to the windows, making him even more excited and prompting him to rush in and snatch up any cards that might be left. His deck was decent for an amateur, but the professionals played on an entirely different level, and he knew that.

Pulling the doors open, the interior of the shop was absorbed into the young duelist. Thousands upon thousands of cards were laid out on steel tables, organized in all kinds of different ways. Beautifully shiny laptops called Card Terminals were positioned on stands in between each table. They were used for easily searching out any available data on a card, such as its type, rarity, and if it was in stock at the shop at the time of visitation. Due to the shop's massive popularity, especially during tournament times, cards had to be trucked in every couple of days in order to keep customers satisfied.

Stepping over to an unoccupied Card Terminal, Shawn started it up, proceeding directly to the EARTH-attribute cards. He skimmed through the list, considering his budget and his skill level. Due to his budget, some cards he really wanted were out of his reach, but most of them were doable, and in stock, fortunately. He looked around at all the other customers, wondering how many of them would be participating in the tournament. Most of them seemed like amateurs like him, but a few appeared to be seasoned duelists, wearing standard issue Duel Disks and duel belts already.

Remembering he still had to sign up before he could do any official dueling, he quickly memorized the pack codes for the cards, leaving the Card Terminal, swiftly turning and smacking right into a teenager holding a handful of new cards. Seeing the kid drop his cards as this happened, Shawn immediately apologized and bent down to help the kid pick them up. "I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going. I was in a hurry."

"What are you doing? Don't touch my cards!" the teen shouted, bumping Shawn out of the way. "I don't want you stealing any of my precious cards. I need these to win the tournament."

Shawn stood up, insulted that the kid thought he would steal his cards. "Hey, I was just trying to help. You don't have to be a butthead about it."

"Shut up, idiot!" the teen said, stuffing his cards in his pockets and running out of the shop, leaving Shawn a little dumbfounded.

"Um, okay…" He returned his focus to his current goal of getting his cards, proceeding to the table directly across from him that held a good portion of the monster cards he needed. _Ah, these will do just fine._

His card buying finished, he left for the entrance, happy with his selection. Going through the cards he bought as he left the shop, he barely had time to notice that the teenager from before was standing next to his bike, only he wasn't alone. Three other teenagers were with him.

"Hey, you with the cards," announced the bulkiest teen, who also happened to be holding a steel bat.

Shawn looked up, a little intimidated by what he saw. "Y-yes?"

"My little brother here tells me you stole one of his cards."

"What? No, I didn't. We bumped into each other—" Shawn was cut off as the two teens grabbed his arms, holding him wide open for an assault.

The bulkiest teen reached into Shawn's pocket and retrieved a card, surprising Shawn. "Look what we have here. Is this your card, Mikey?"

The teen from before nodded. "Yep, that's it, Mitch. He must've snuck it into his pocket somehow!"

Shawn blurted out, "That's bull! I didn't even touch his cards! You framed me!"

Mitch raised the bat above his head, preparing to strike Shawn. "How it happened doesn't matter. The fact is, you had my brother's card in your pocket, so you technically were stealing it. Good thing he noticed, because that card was worth $25. Looks like you'll have to pay interest on it, just for attempting, so get ready, kid. Once I beat the snot out of you, I'll take all your cards. Surely a punk like you can't afford any cards worth $25."

Shawn struggled, but it was futile. The other two teens were too strong and kept him from getting away. _This can't be happening. I'm finally on my way to becoming a pro, and these guys are going to mess it all up…_

Car exhaust boomed down the street, delaying Mitch's swing. The sound of a monstrous supercharged V8 screamed as a bright red 2003 Ford Mustang GT sped into view, startling the muggers. The car didn't appear to be stopping, which scared the boys enough to leap out of the way. Shawn remained, stricken with fear. The brakes of the car screeched as it turned, and it came skidding to a stop next to the sidewalk.

Mitch appeared from behind a garbage can, shaking his fist angrily. "Hey, what's the big deal! You almost killed us!"

The car purred for a moment before the engine shut off. No movement could be seen through the tinted windows. The driver's side door opened and a young man stepped out. What stood out instantly was the black and red Duel Disk attached to his left arm, which matched his red shirt and black pants.

Shawn didn't know who this man was, but he was glad he arrived. _Hm, he seems familiar._

Fortunately, Mitch recognized the man, and backed off at once. "L-l-let's get out of here, guys. I just remembered my dad bought me some new cards! We don't need this kid's!"

As he turned, the man finally addressed him. "Why the rush? I came here to duel."

Without turning to face the man, Mitch responded, "No way, man! I'll take my chances in the tournament!" He, his little brother, and his two goons high-tailed it down the closest alleyway.

The man smiled, then stepped over to Shawn. He had similar spiked brown hair, but his was only spiked in the front. "I don't think they'll be bothering you anytime soon. Watch yourself."

He began walking away toward the card shop entrance when Shawn realized he was one of the men on the tournament flyers posted all over. _Holy crap, that's him! I have to talk to him!_ "Wait!" The man stopped. "You're Derek Myers, aren't you?"

Turning, the man replied, "Yeah, I am. Did you need something?"

"I wanted to say thanks," Shawn said. "They would've taken all the cards I just bought for the tournament if you hadn't shown up."

"It was nothing," Derek said, shrugging his shoulders. "Bullies like him don't deserve to duel. So you're entered in the tournament, huh?"

Shawn twiddled his thumbs. "Well, not yet. I just found out about it today, so I still have to register."

"Did you get all the cards you needed from here?"

"Most of them. I didn't have enough money for some, like Valkyrion the Magna Warrior. He was too expensive."

"Sorry," Derek said, a tone of understanding in his voice. "I know how that feels. I used to save up for months just for a couple cards." He paused. "I'll tell you what. Why don't you register for the tournament and then meet me back here?"

"Okay, but how come?"

"You'll see. You better hurry up before registration closes for the day."

"All right. Thanks again!"

Derek smiled as Shawn left, then pressed a button on his car remote, locking it. He entered the shop as Shawn removed his bike from the rack and hopped on, pedaling as fast as he could toward the dueling stadium.

_Man, I can't believe I met the state champion. I have to tell Mindy and Sam as soon as I can._ Shawn slowed his pedaling down to a crawl as he found himself in front of the dueling stadium, marveling at its colossal stature and beauty. For a 10-year-old building, it looked like it had just been built yesterday.

The smell of hotdogs and burgers filled the air as he went inside, a few concession stands catching his eye. He wiped some drool from his chin and returned his focus to the reception desk in the center of the spacious room. There were three women doing miscellaneous duties behind it, but they all looked up as soon as he approached.

"Hello. Are you here to register for the KaibaCorp Battle City 2 Qualifier tournament?" asked the pink-haired woman in the middle, a tired smile on her face.

"Yes, ma'am," Shawn answered. _What? Battle City 2 Qualifier tournament?_

"Name?"

"Shawn Smith."

"It appears you've never participated in a tournament before. Is that correct?"  
>"Yes." <em>And I didn't think the first one I'd be in would be a qualifier for the second Battle City…<em>

"You'll be needing a Duel Disk then, I assume?"

"That's correct."

After each answer, she would type furiously on the keyboard, the other two women watching. As she finished typing her last passage, the blue-haired woman to her right disappeared into the room behind the desk, returning shortly with a blue-and-white box, handing it over to Shawn.

He popped the top off the box, gazing inside at his shiny new gizmo like a fat kid who had just entered Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. _Wow, my very own Duel Disk. It's so beautiful_. His gazing was interrupted as the green-haired woman set a pen and paper on the counter in front of him. He skimmed over the paper, which was a safety waiver, and signed promptly. The green-haired woman took the paper and handed it to the blue-haired woman, who fed it into her computer, which then printed out a small ticket.

"This is your ticket of admittance to the tournament," said the woman, sliding it to him on the counter. "Without it, you will not be permitted to duel in the tournament." She also gave him a small booklet. "This is the official KaibaCorp rulebook. You're expected to read and understand all the rules within. You've already received your Duel Disk, which is what you will be using in all of your duels. If you lose or break it, you will be supplied with a new one, but try not to lose or break the one you have, please." Finally, she handed him a white paper with the names of all the participants and when the tournament would officially begin. "This paper lists each competitor, but you will not know who you face until right before the match, in order to keep everybody on an even playing field. Do you understand everything I've told you?"

Shawn nodded, processing everything as well as he could. "Yes, I do. Thank you."

"You're welcome, and good luck," she said, returning to her computer.

Left to his own devices, Shawn jogged out of the stadium, eager to meet Derek back at the card shop. _I wonder what he wants with me. I'm just a kid and he's a state champion._ He hopped back on his bike and took off for the card shop. He noticed it was already getting dark outside, and his mother was probably worried about him. _I hope this doesn't take too long. I don't want my mom grounding me. Hm, I wonder what Mindy's doing right now…_

"Hey, Shawn!" Mindy shouted happily, waving to him as he arrived.

"Mindy? What are you doing here?" asked Shawn, locking his bike up.

"I wanted to help you with choosing your new cards and maybe help you practice," she said, holding out her deck. "Then I saw Derek. We started talking and he explained what happened earlier. I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks…" Shawn said, blushing.

"Shawn," Derek said, grabbing Shawn's attention with his low-pitched voice. "You're all registered for the tournament, I see."

"Yeah, but I didn't know it'd be the prelude to Battle City 2!" Shawn blurted, holding the Duel Disk box underneath his arm. "Battle City was the biggest Duel Monsters tournament in history, and this one will probably be even bigger! I'm stoked to even be a part of the qualifier! I just have to build my deck and practice, which might be a little difficult. The tournament starts on Saturday and it's already Thursday night."

"That's what I wanted to see you about," Derek said, opening the shop's door. "Come on."

Inside, the shop was mostly older kids now since the younger ones had gone home for the night. After signing a few autographs, Derek took Shawn to a Card Terminal and started it up, Mindy watching from the side.

"Make a list of the cards you couldn't afford," said Derek, stepping to the side.

"What do you mean? Why?" Shawn asked, dumbfounded.

"I'll buy them for you, of course."

At this statement, Shawn was confounded. "Why would you do that? You don't owe me. If anything, I owe you." _This is so amazing, yet weird. Why is a state champion buying cards for an amateur like me? Surely he's got better things to use his money on._

Mindy butted in, saying, "Just take the offer, Shawn. It's not like he's doing this for nothing. We both want to see you succeed in this tournament, and you can't do that if you're missing cards."

Shawn looked up at Derek, who was even taller than Sam by a few inches. "But…you hardly know me."

"You remind me of myself when I was your age," explained Derek. "From what Mindy's told me, you have a good heart, and I have a feeling you'll go far in this tournament."

"Go far?" Shawn gleamed. "I'm going to win and go to Battle City 2, and I'm only 15!"

"Yeah, but you can't do that if you're always wondering about the cards you could've had," Mindy maintained. "It's just common knowledge of the human mind. Now, come on, pick your cards."

Still hesitant, Shawn gradually moved up to the Card Terminal and made his list. When he finished, Derek looked it over and left the two alone to get the cards. Shawn popped the top off his Duel Disk box again, removing the Disk from its cushioning, his eyes fixed on it.

"Let me see that," Mindy said, snatching it from his hands and trying it on. She clenched her fist and the Duel Disk activated, changing from Standby Mode to Duel Mode. She giggled, fiddling with the buttons and the Life Point counter. "This is pretty cool, but it's almost as big as my whole arm!"

_Whoa. I didn't think it was possible for her to get any hotter. The Duel Disk has proven me wrong._ "Uh, why don't I take that back?" He unclipped it from her arm, placing it on his instead and exhaling sharply. _Phew, moment of extreme awkwardness avoided…_

Derek returned with a metal tin just then, handing it over to Shawn carefully. "Here you go. All of the cards you listed are in here."

"How can I thank you?"

"Just do your best in the tournament. Who knows, maybe we'll end up dueling each other in the finals."

The electronic entrance doors slid open, a startlingly chilling breeze blowing in. Everyone looked over to the doors, seeing a group of men adorned in purple robes standing there.

"Who are they…?" Shawn questioned, watching as they slinked their way past him.

_I've got a bad feeling about this._ Mindy rubbed her arms, trying to warm up from the cold breeze the men had brought along with them. "They look like Ghouls, but that's impossible… Ghouls worked for Marik, and he was defeated 10 years ago at Battle City… What's going on?"

The men slithered over to the shop owner, where the apparent leader of the group held out his vein-covered hand.

"Give me all of your rare cards and we won't have to hurt anybody!" the Ghoul demanded, shaking his hand over and over as if that would make the shop owner give in quicker.

"This is a KaibaCorp card shop, pal!" the shop owner said, sticking up for him. "You better get out of here or you'll be punished under the full extent of the law. I've already got you on camera so don't make this worse for yourself."

"Worse for myself? You're the one who should be worried!" His veiny hand grabbed hold of the shop owner's collar, pulling the man close to him. "You have no idea of the horrors that await those who defy us! Your pathetic cameras and laws are useless against us!" He threw the shop owner back, the man hitting a shelf of tins and card sleeves, knocking them over.

_That's it! I won't stand by and watch them do this, not after what I went through earlier._ Shawn took a step forward but Derek held out his arm, stopping him. "Huh?"

"I'll handle this," Derek said flatly, taking a few steps toward the ghostly men. "Hey! Does someone need to call the Ghost Busters on you guys?"

The men switched their attention to Derek, eerily glaring at him. The one who interacted with the shop owner made his way to the front of the group again, lifting his arm to point at Derek. "You think you're funny mocking us, boy?"

"Funny? No," said Derek. "Just honest. You guys really do look like you could be in a Ghost Busters movie."

The man snarled. "Who are you, boy?"

"Derek Myers. Maybe you've heard of me. I'm the state champion, soon-to-be world champion, so I suggest you just leave before things get crazy."

_Ah! Derek Myers, huh? He holds the extremely rare Crush Card Virus card. I must obtain it!_ The man frowned. "How about we settle this in a duel, hm? Certainly you wouldn't object, right?"

"As long as you leave once I beat you."

"Oh, of course…of course." _He doesn't realize this won't be a simple one-on-one duel. That fool will be facing all of us!_

"Then let's do this." Derek raised his arm, his Duel Disk springing into action. He slid his deck into place, the Disk lighting up as if on command. He stood by, waiting for his opponent to ready himself.


	3. A Glimpse At What the Future Holds

**Chapter 3: A Glimpse At What the Future Holds**

The ghoulish man motioned to his followers. They each stepped forward, holding out their arms, Duel Disks activating. Gasps from a few kids could be heard as the men lined up, preparing to all duel Derek at the same time.

"Oh, so it's going to be like that, huh?" Derek asked in a way that hinted at excitement rather than fear. "That's fine by me."

Shawn growled. _This is completely unfair. He may be a state champ, but he's not Yugi._ "Hey, that's not fair! It was supposed to be just you!" He took a few steps forward, looking like he might help Derek.

"Quiet, you fool!" the man shouted.

"Shawn, stay back. I've beaten tougher duelists than these worms." Derek stood by, not intimidated by the four duelists in front of him. "So, what's your name?"

"The name's Castor," the man replied, cracking his neck. "These are my three servants – Sans, Embargo, and Frunder. Together we'll crush you and strip you of your most prized card…"

"I'd love to see that happen," Derek said, drawing his cards. "But for now, you'll just have to settle for seeing it in action, whatever you think it is. I'll start this off by summoning Banisher of the Light [4/100/2000] in Defense Mode, and placing two cards face-down." Materializing on the field before him was a broad-shouldered, lofty man dressed in an orange and blue priest robe. He crouched down before them in a defensive position. Two face-down cards popped up behind him. _Hopefully this strategy works._ "Let's see what you can do. Oh, and while my Banisher of the Light is face-up on the field, each card that would normally go to the Graveyard is removed from the game instead. Have fun with that."

Castor grabbed his beginning card, looking over his hand. _His Defense Position monster is too strong for any of my monsters to break through, so I'll just have to wait to summon something more powerful._ "I'll summon Rogue Doll [4/1600/1000] and end my turn." A mysterious doll that appeared to have two heads on top of one another rose from its card, lightly waving its triangle-tipped golden rod.

Sans took up the reigns next. "Ooh, I think I'll place five cards face-down and end my turn."

"My move!" Embargo clapped his palms together, mumbling something nobody could make out. "And now, I also place five cards face-down and end my turn. There will be no rain for the dry-mouthed in this duel…"

"Can you guys hurry it up?" Derek taunted, crossing his arms and leaning a bit to the side, projecting an image of boredom. "I've got more important things to do than deal with washed up scrubs like you."

Castor gritted his teeth, a vein bulging across his upper lip. "You'll be regretting that statement once my turn begins and I'm free to attack you! Frunder, hurry up and make your move so I can go!"

Frunder quickly nodded his head, a devilish grin on his face. "It's time you learned what a true demon can do! I sacrifice Castor's Rogue Doll to bring forth Summoned Skull [6/2500/1200!" Holographic lightning struck down in front of Frunder, creating a ball of smoke. From the smoke came a monster of considerable intimidation, boasting titanic claws and long, piercing horns. Lighting crackled around it every few seconds. "Your monster is nothing compared to what I have planned for him!"

"Back to me then," Derek said, perking up and drawing his card. His face quickly turned from boredom to morbid joy. "Do you know what I'm holding in my hand? I'll give you a hint. It's the key to defeating you four."

"Bluff us all you want!" Castor shouted. "It still won't save you from demise!"

Derek slid a card into a back slot of his Duel Disk, then picked a card from his hand and placed it in another back slot, pressing the button above it. "First I place a card face-down, and then I play Allure of Darkness! This allows me to draw 2 cards, but I must remove from play a DARK-Type monster from my hand, and if I can't, then my whole hand goes to the Graveyard. Fortunately, I have Belial – Marquis of Darkness to remove from the game."

Watching from the side, Shawn observed the duel closely, wondering how Derek would get himself out of this mess. "This is crazy, Mindy. How's he going to beat four people at once?"

"I'm not sure," she said, concern in her voice. "But if my hunch is correct, and he's doing what I think he's doing, he'll be able to win easily."

"What are you talking about, Mindy?" He looked over to her, but she didn't answer, for she was too busy studying Derek's moves.

Continuing his move, Derek grinned. "Now I summon D.D. Survivor [4/1800/200] and end my turn by placing one more card face-down."

"Finally, you'll know how powerful we really are!" Castor shouted in joy as he drew his next card. "I summon Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts [4/1500/1200] and end my turn." _Don't screw this up, Frunder! If we win this, we'll take his Crush Card Virus and be that much closer to our goal!_

Sans drew a card and signaled to Embargo. "I pass."

Embargo drew his card and raised his hand, a face-down card on his field flipping up, revealing a Trap Card. "I activate my Trap Card – Spirit Barrier! While there is a monster on our side of the field, we take no battle damage."

Derek squinted a bit, studying the layout of the field. _Sans has five cards face-down and hasn't summoned any monsters so far. That's strange. Embargo has four face-downs and one active Trap Card. I'm assuming the rest of his face-downs are Traps Cards, too, although I can't be completely sure until he reveals them. Castor's only summoned tribute fodder for Frunder. I think I know exactly what's going on now, and what I have to do to win, but it's a gamble. If I'm wrong, I could lose the duel, and whatever card they're talking about._

"Right, and now I use Castor's Gazelle to summon another Summoned Skull!" declared Frunder. Another horned beast crackled onto the field next to its mirror image. "My beasts will attack both of your monsters!" Both Summoned Skulls' horns began charging with lightning, the air around them popping and snapping.

As they charged their attacks, Derek threw out his hand. "Hold on! I activate Macro Cosmos! While this is on the field, every card sent to the Graveyard is removed from play instead. Basically, he's a Trap Card form of my Banisher."

"And you think that will stop them from attacking you?" Castor laughed ecstatically. _Our victory is near!_

"Hah, no," said Derek. "But it will help me next turn."

"Wait!" Sans blurted out, four of his face-downs flipping up. "I activate four Quick-Play Spell Cards called Rush Recklessly. These Spells allow one of Frunder's Summoned Skulls to power up by 700 for each one, which by math brings its attack points to 4,600!"

Both Summoned Skulls finished charging their attacks, the one with the power-up bringing forth more lightning than the other. The lightning from their horns slid down to their clawed hands and formed a bright blue-yellow orb, which shot out at a blinding speed and smashed into both of Derek's monsters, destroying them and removing them from the game [Derek: 4000 - 1200].

As little particles of data blew past him, Derek remained calm, straightening his shirt out. "Is that it?"

'_Is that it'? What's he thinking? He just lost more than half of his Life Points!_ Shawn looked on with concern, but there was nothing he could do to help. His new friend wanted to do this by himself, and he had to respect that decision, even if he fervently disagreed with it. "I hope he can get out of this one now that he has no monsters left to protect him next time he's attacked."

"Oh, he's got a monster to protect him," Mindy quirked. "Just watch."

Frunder nodded.

"Good, because my D.D. Survivor's special ability brings him back to my field if he's removed from the game while face-up," Derek grinned, watching as his monster jumped out of a portal and back in front of him. "Now it's my turn again, and I intend to do some damage this time." He drew a card and placed it into his hand. _It's all going according to plan. Just as I thought, Sans has Spell Cards in his corner._ "I know what's going on here, Castor. You and your goons can't fool me."

Castor snickered. "Really?"

"That's right, and I'm going to win this duel," Derek continued, confidence radiating from him. "First I'll place one card face-down, and then I'll sacrifice my D.D. Survivor to summon Caius the Shadow Monarch!" Even larger and more brutal looking than the Summoned Skulls, a purple-colored being decked out in silver armor came to the field out of a purple swirling portal. "When Caius is successfully summoned to the field, I can remove one card on the field from play, and I choose one of your Summoned Skulls!"

"No!" Frunder cursed under his breath, slightly angered by this delaying of their plan. "You may have destroyed one, but I have another in my hand to take its place, and soon I'll bring him out to annihilate you!"

"Go ahead," Derek said, remaining confident in his ability to win the duel. "I'll destroy him, too! By the way, since Summoned Skull was a DARK-Attribute monster, you take 1,000 points of damage [Frunder: 4,000 - 3,000]! Now that my turn's over, D.D. Survivor returns to the field again, in Defense Mode!" Once more, D.D. Survivor appeared out of a portal onto the field. "It's your move, Castor. I'm assuming you'll summon another monster for Frunder to use?"

Snarling, Castor nodded, placing a card onto his Duel Disk. "You're correct. I summon Infernal Dragon, and although he's got more attack points than your Survivor's defense points, I won't attack him. It would be useless to do so. It's Sans' turn now."

Sans placed two more cards face-down and ended his turn, not to anybody's surprise.

Embargo heaved his hand into the air, motioning for three cards to be activated from his row of face-downs. "Prepare to witness the awesome power of my Solemn Wishes cards! Whenever I draw a card, my Life Points increase by 500 for each Solemn Wishes I have on the field. That ends my turn."

"Since you seem to have figured out my strategy, you won't be surprised when I summon yet another Summoned Skull to the field!" Frunder chortled wildly as his third Summoned Skull made its appearance, taking its place next to the other one. "Now I'll use them both to attack your monsters again!"

Once again, lightning orbs smacked into Derek's monsters, destroying them both and causing more damage to his Life Points [Derek: 1,200 - 1,100]. Derek didn't falter, though, knowing he could still win this even with the low amount of Life Points he had left compared to his opponents.

"D.D. Survivor returns to my field, and my turn begins," he said, taking another card from his deck. "This ends in one more turn. I'll set one monster face-down. It's your move."

"You're right, this duel will end in one more turn, but it won't be your turn!" Castor proclaimed. "Once Frunder attacks, you'll be finished. With only 1,100 Life Points, you'll have nothing to defend yourself with, you fool! It looks like the almighty Derek Myers will be beaten by a couple of Ghouls!"

"Mindy, do you really think Derek can win this?" inquired Shawn, peering over to her. "Honestly."

Mindy took a moment to answer, inhaling and exhaling slowly. "Yes, Shawn, I do think he can win this. He's been setting up his strategy from the start, and it's about to all pay off. Just watch, and you'll see what I mean when I say Derek's had this duel won from the beginning."

"I'd say it's about time to summon another monster," Castor said, picking a card from his hand to place on the Duel Disk. "This monster is Headless Knight [4/1450/1700], but of course, he won't be around for long. I'll pass the reigns over to Sans now." Like his name suggested, an armor-clad knight appeared on the field, equipped with all the essentials of battle except for a head.

Still not surprisingly, Sans put nothing on the field, and ended his turn.

Somewhat surprising yet still expected, Embargo also ended his turn without doing anything, although his Life Points increased by 1,500 due to his Solemn Wishes cards. [Embargo: 4,000 - 5,500].

"As always, I'll tribute Castor's Headless Knight to summon Swordstalker [6/2000/1600]!" Frunder announced, a demonic winged being wielding a jagged gold sword swiftly landing on the field next to his two Summoned Skulls. "Now I have three monsters with at least 2,000 attack points, and you have nothing but weak monsters just waiting to be destroyed."

"Then go ahead and destroy them," Derek suggested. "After you get rid of my two monsters, I'll be defenseless, after all." _Come on, take the bait. Attack me!_

Barking subtly, Frunder commanded his monsters to attack Derek's. This time, however, was quite different from the rest.

"You just destroyed my Sangan," Derek explained, a toothy grin on his face. "When this monster is destroyed, I'm able to take a monster with 1,500 or less attack points from my deck and put it into my hand." He reached for his deck, quickly picking out the monster he wanted. "But that wasn't the worst of it. You see, by destroying one of my monsters with 1,000 or less attack points, you activated one of the deadliest Trap Cards in the game – Crush Card Virus!"

Mysteriously, almost magically, everybody in the shop experienced the same mixed feeling of shock and awe. Some knew what was coming, while others could only watch and observe.

Castor roared with laughter, slightly surprising Derek. "You-you think I didn't see that coming? Why do you think I didn't duel you alone, fool? I knew you'd use that card sooner or later. Embargo!"

Embargo licked his lips. "Show time. See, I'm going to stop your Crush Card Virus with this – Seven Tools of the Bandit!" Another of his face-down cards revealed itself, this one also being a Trap Card. "By paying 1,000 Life Points [Embargo: 5,500 - 4,500], I can negate and destroy one Trap Card on the field, and you already know which one I'm stopping!"

"If you thought I would be dumb enough to use my most powerful card without protection, you're even more limp-dicked than I thought. Activate Trap Card – Solemn Judgment!" On Derek's side, an old man with a long graying beard that came halfway down his chest materialized onto the field, holding out his hand as if to say 'stop'. "By forfeiting half my Life Points [Derek: 1,100 - 550], I can stop your Seven Tools from destroying my Crush Card."

_T-this can't be happening! We had this duel won! There are four of us and only one of him for Christ sakes!_ Veins bulging all over his face, Castor hissed, "No! This isn't happening!"

"It is, and you're going down, Castor!" Derek threw his fist out in Castor's direction. "My Crush Card infects my own monster with a devastating virus, and since Frunder's monster attacked it, it was also infected! This virus will spread to the rest of your monsters on the field, in your hand, and finally, your deck…leaving nothing with 1,500 attack points or more alive! What's more – thanks to my Macro Cosmos card, those monsters have been removed from the game, so your chances of getting them back are slim to none!"

At this, Embargo's jaw dropped and Castor began to throw a fit. Frunder wasn't happy either, as he was the target of Derek's ruinous virus, and every single card in his deck was removed from the game, leaving him with absolutely nothing to protect himself with. Derek broke out into a sinister laughter as Frunder dropped to his knees, his cards falling to the floor.

Mindy took notice to Derek's sudden changed attitude, finding it a bit odd. "Hey, Shawn, don't you think Derek's acting a bit…well, evil, now that he's used Crush Card?" _I sure do, and it's a little frightening, to be honest._

"He's just happy it worked," Shawn said, folding his arms. His lips morphed into a smile as his friend turned the duel around in one brilliant move. "I'm happy, too. He can definitely win now. That big guy has nothing to protect himself with, and it looks like he's got no cards left in his deck to even keep playing."

Castor seethed through gritted teeth, his body shaking from the immense amount of anger he was experiencing. His entire plan had been foiled now thanks to one card.

"Castor!" Derek bellowed, his index finger pointed like a sword to Castor's throat. "It's over for you! I was onto your strategy from the start! Sans holds all of your Spells, Embargo holds all of your Traps, Frunder holds all of your powerful monsters, and you hold all of the monsters used for his tributes. Now that I've wiped out all of Frunder's monsters, you're stuck with only weak monsters to protect you!"

Frunder, out of cards and with nothing else to do, was speechless.

"I'll take that as him ending his turn," Derek said, drawing his next card. "My D.D. Survivor returns to the field, and next I activate the Spell Card – Giant Trunade! This returns all Spell and Trap Cards on the field to our hands. Next, I'll activate one of my face-downs – Return from the Different Dimension! At the cost of half my Life Points [Derek: 550 - 275], I can Special Summon as many of my removed from play monsters as I choose! I have four monsters removed from play, and four spots on my field. Return to me, Belial – the Marquis of Darkness, Caius the Shadow Monarch, Banisher of the Light, and Sangan!"

Realizing he was finished as Derek's monsters reappeared on the field one by one, Castor's eyes popped and he fell to his knees. "I-I'm finished…!"

From the sidelines, Shawn was amazed at Derek's sudden swarm of monsters, but at the same time, didn't quite understand what was going on or how it happened. "What did Derek just do, Mindy?"

Fortunately, Mindy knew exactly what happened. "He used the strategy I thought he was using from the start. See, he used his Macro Cosmos to remove his powerful monsters from the game, and then when the time was right, he brought them back using Return from the Different Dimension. He used his Crush Card to destroy any hopes of winning that those Ghouls had. By destroying their strongest link, Frunder, he effectively rendered the rest of their setup useless. That was a brutal yet beautiful combination of cards. I can't help but wonder what he'd have done if his Crush Card didn't work, though…"

"I'll use my D.D. Survivor and Caius the Shadow Monarch to annihilate you and take you out of the game, Castor! It's all over for you!"

D.D. Survivor attacked first, removing the ragged cloth covering its body to reveal a body covered in blades, which bulleted into Castor, throwing him to his butt [Castor: 4,000 - 2,200]. Forming a dread-filled purple orb between its hands, Caius the Shadow Monarch fired at Castor, the orb exploding and engulfing him, his Life Points dropping to 0 instantly [Castor: 2,200 - 0].

"Now, I'll use Belial – the Marquis of Darkness, Banisher of the Light, and Sangan to attack _you_, Embargo!"

The blue-winged angel of darkness swung its mighty sword, seemingly slashing right through Embargo, while Sangan pounced on him with its wicked teeth, and Banisher of the Light popped him on the head with its cane, effectively dropping his Life Points to a measly 600 [Embargo: 4,500 - 1,700 - 700 - 600]. The man that once laughed at Derek fell to his hands and knees, barely able to hold himself up.

"And don't think I forgot about you, Sans," noted Derek, turning to him. "Next turn, you're finished."

"Me! No way! I forfeit! I can't do this without any monsters!" Sans screeched, falling to his knees and pleading for mercy.

"I forfeit as well," Embargo said quietly, clearly embarrassed by the outcome of the duel.

With the duel over, the holograms faded, their Duel Disks deactivated, and everybody could finally calm down. Before any of the kids could get autographs, Derek made his way straight to Castor, picking him up by the collar of his robe and pulling him close to his face.

"Tell me, why did you come here?" he asked, irritation in his voice. "What did you want all those rare cards for?"

Still a bit dazed from his loss, Castor could only mutter here and there. "F-for…master…all…w-will…enslaved…oblit…erated…"

"Master? Who's your master? Tell me!" He shook Castor violently, trying to force the answers out of the man.

Mindy rushed over to Derek's side, putting her hands on his chest, attempting to pry him away from Castor. "Derek, that's enough! He's too out of it. Let him go."

Derek hesitated for a moment, snarling before dropping Castor and facing Mindy. "Sorry. I got a little carried away there." He shifted his attention over to Shawn. "Hey, are you okay?"

Shawn nodded, laughing a little. "Yeah, that was awesome! You have to teach me how to do that!"

"I will sometime. It's probably getting pretty late for you. You should head home."

"Oh, crap! You're right!" Shawn checked his watch, finding that it was almost 7:30. "I missed dinner. Oh, man, my mom's going to be so mad at me. I'll catch you guys later!"

"I'll come with you!" Mindy yelled, chasing Shawn out of the shop.

_He's got potential. I just hope we don't face each other in the tournament, for both our sakes._ Derek returned to the kids in the shop, making sure the cops arrived before leaving.

With the moon above them and the air soothing, the walk back to Shawn's house was most deservedly relaxing. Plenty of people were still out on the streets, mingling and doing various activities, but none bothered them as they made it to Shawn's house, which was nothing special to speak of. It was a run-of-the-mill, two-story, one-family house.

"I feel like I should be walking you home instead," Shawn said, rubbing the back of his head. "I am the guy, after all."

"No, it's fine," Mindy replied, giggling. "Listen, I wanted to say that I thought you were pretty brave today."

"What do you mean?"

"When those Ghouls showed up, you were ready to take them on, even though you knew nothing about them. That takes a lot of courage."

"Oh. Well, thanks. I probably would have beaten them, too! They're lucky Derek was there!"

"Don't get too ahead of yourself. You haven't even fully constructed your deck yet, and the one you used against Sam was, well, nothing to speak of, no offense."

"None taken. Hey, can you help me? I mean, I don't want to ask Derek for much after everything he's done for me now, and I don't think practicing with Sam would benefit us very much. No offense to him, but I think you're a better duelist…and smarter, at least."

Mindy blushed a little, turning away to hide her face. "Aw, thanks, Shawn. I didn't know you thought that about me." She took a seat on the bench on his porch, sighing. "The sky is really soothing, isn't it? It's just sitting up there, looking down at us, protecting us."

Shawn tentatively took a seat next to her, staring up at the sky as she was. "Yeah, it is pretty nice."

"Sometimes I sit out in my backyard and just fall asleep under the stars. I love it. It keeps me worry-free, but sometimes a little action isn't so bad. I mean, considering what happened today, I think everything will work out just fine in the end, you know?"

"Mhm. As long as we stick together. You never answered my question before."

"Hm?"

"Will you help me with my deck and practice with me tomorrow?"

Mindy paused, uncertain of what to say now. She glimpsed over at Shawn, who was laid back on the bench, enjoying her company and the night sky. "Okay, I'll help you, as long as you answer a question for me."

Shawn sat up, listening intently. "Shoot."

"Do you think there are 'evil' cards?"

This took Shawn by complete surprise. He'd never been asked this before, and didn't really have a decent answer for it, but seeing as he didn't want to disappoint Mindy, he mustered up the best he could. "Why do you ask that?"

Her mind flashed back to earlier when Derek activated his Crush Card Virus. _I don't care if nobody else saw it, but I know something changed inside him when he used that card._ "No reason," she quickly rebutted. "I just wanted your opinion."

"Oh, well…" He thought for a moment. "I don't think cards can inherently be evil. I think it's the user that makes them evil, kind of like animals, you know?"

"Yeah, I understand what you're saying. Thanks, Shawn." She stood up, flattening out her skirt. "I had a good time with you today, and this walk was really relaxing. I'll see you tomorrow. We should get on that training bright and early in the morning."

As she left, Shawn sprawled out on the bench, watching as she moved along the sidewalk. _Man, she's awesome._


	4. Preparations

**Chapter 4: Preparations**

"It's my move, Shawn!" Derek shouted, pulling a card from his deck. "Thanks to my Crush Card Virus, you have no strong monsters to stop my army of powerful beasts!"

Standing on one side of the arena was Derek, his field filled with all of his most powerful monsters, Macro Cosmos activated in the back row, his Life Point meter reading 2,150. Opposite of Derek was Shawn, who had only one monster in Defense Mode, and two face-downs in his back row, his Life Points meter reading 800. The crowd was cheering for both duelists, although the majority was cheering for Derek, filling Shawn with hopelessness.

"This ends now! Caius, Belial, Delg, Survivor, obliterate his monster and the rest of his Life Points!"

A massive assault headed his way, Shawn froze in utter fear, blanking out completely. Almost as if a bomb went off, he was defeated instantly, the crowd cheering for Derek, their one and only champion. While he was living up the fame, Shawn lay on the ground, staring up at the spotlight above him.

"I lost…"

Scarlet hair drooped over his face, followed by a pale, familiar female countenance. "Shawn! Hey, Shawn!" The voice began to echo, getting farther and farther away, and then suddenly, without warning, it became loud again.

Shawn opened his eyes, the light from the sun burning them, forcing him to retreat back under the covers. They were soon ripped from him, though, as Mindy pulled them away and hopped on his bed, surprising him. He groaned, peering over to the radio on his dresser.

"What the crap, Mindy?" he asked, slight irritation emoting from him. "It's seven in the morning! What are you doing here? How did you get in my house? How long have you been here? Oh, god_…" I wonder if she saw me dreaming._

Mindy giggled like a child, sitting on his bed with crossed legs, just looking at him. "Your mom let me in. I told her we had to practice for the tournament. Don't tell me you forgot."

Still a bit groggy, he sat up, yawning. "Bah, of course not. I just thought it wouldn't be, you know, seven in the morning. I was thinking more along the lines of noon."

"Difference of opinion," Mindy said, quickly changing the subject. "Anyway! It's time to get down to business. The tournament starts tomorrow and you haven't even built your deck yet!"

Knowing she was right, he flung himself out of bed, not realizing he was only wearing underpants. He ran to his computer desk, picking up a box and turning to her, only to see her covering her eyes, a half-smile on her face. "What? What did I do now?"

She pointed at him. "Before we go rushing into this, maybe you should put some pants on."

"Right…"

As Shawn dressed himself, Mindy took the box he'd grabbed and sat on the floor, opening it. Inside were all the new cards he had bought the day before, and the deck he used to duel Sam. She removed his old deck and began sorting it by Monsters, Traps, and Spells. With a deck as bad as this, he never would have survived the tournament. It's a good thing he got new cards. By the looks of them, they'll really improve his skill and power.

Shawn took a seat next to her, watching as she sorted the cards into neat rows. "Building a new deck should be easy, shouldn't it?"

"Not exactly," she responded, moving some cards around. "You have to figure out your strengths and build around those; know what you want. A good place to start would be your Cyber-Tech Alligator." She put his monster to the side, away from the other cards, then grasped a card from the newer ones, showing it to him. "Cards like this one, Birthright, will open up more opportunities to use him in a duel." She set that in a separate place, then took two more cards. "We already know your main strategy is to get him onto the field and wipe the opponent out in one turn, so we'll need to keep Megamorph and Limiter Removal. That's five cards already, which leaves us with thirty-five more to go."

"Most of the monsters in my old deck were EARTH-Attributes, so I figured I'd build upon that. Cyber-Tech Alligator was a WIND-Attribute, so I got some of those, too."

"That's good thinking. It looks like you've got some support for your EARTH monsters, since your WIND monsters are already pretty powerful on their own. But just because you've got the right cards doesn't mean you can use them correctly."

"What do you mean?"

"It all comes back to what I told you about believing in your deck…the 'heart of the cards,' to put it simply. You can have the most powerful cards in the game, but if you don't put faith in your cards, they won't always be there for you, if you know what I mean."

Shawn pondered this thought for a moment, trying to appear smart to Mindy. "Yeah, I think I get it…a little. I guess I'll learn more when we practice. Did you bring your deck?"

Mindy pulled a deck box out of her bra. "You bet. But first, let's finish your deck. No offense, but most of the monsters in your old deck are really weak, and simply won't do in this tournament. Not only that, but your Traps are also pretty useless, except for Trap Hole."

The young duelist rubbed the back of his head in an embarrassed fashion. "Hey, at least I beat Sam, right? That counts for something."

Mindy ignored his comment, focusing on his deck. "This isn't the time for playing around, Shawn. We need to get this finished so you can prepare for the tournament. Do you understand?"

Shawn bowed his head. "I'm sorry. I'm just not focused. I had a bad dream about the tournament."

Mindy leaned in a bit. "Oh. What happened in your dream?"

"Well, I was dueling Derek."

"Yeah, I can understand how that'd be bad."

"That wasn't the worst of it, though. He beat me, and badly, too. His Crush Card just ruined me. I had nothing to stand up to his monsters after that. He did the same thing against me that he did to those Ghouls. It was a terrible feeling having nothing to defend yourself with as all of his powerful monsters attack you at the same time. The entire state was watching as he whooped me. I never want that to happen for real."

Knowing what she had to do, Mindy clasped one of Shawn's hands in hers, staring him dead in the eyes. "Trust me when I say this, Shawn. If you believe in your deck, nobody will defeat you…nobody. I have faith that you'll win this tournament and go on to Battle City 2." She paused, letting her words sink into Shawn's mind. "Now, let's finish your deck and practice. I've been a little anxious to duel you ever since you beat Sam."

_Jeez, she should be a motivational speaker. You'd think she was Yugi's daughter or something._ "Mindy, there's something I've been meaning to ask you for a while now," he began, slowing his breathing as his heart pumped faster.

"Yeah?"

"Ah, nevermind, it's not important right now. Let's just do this."

-0-0-0-0-

_That should do it. With the finishing touches done on my deck, I'm ready to go._ With his cards spread out on a coffee table in front of him, Sam could see each card individually, sitting back in his chair and admiring his creation. _All I need now is someone to test it on. I can't test it on Shawn, and Mindy is helping him, so she's also out of the picture. Nobody from school even comes close to my level, so who does that leave me with? I guess I'll have to head down to the stadium and see if there's anybody there._ He scooped up his cards and rose from his computer chair, leaving his messy room in search of an opponent.

Even from a few blocks away, Sam could see dozens of duelists waiting outside of the stadium. _Why are they all waiting outside? The stadium opened a couple hours ago._ Getting a closer look, he found that there was a limo parked outside the stadium, but for whom, he had no idea.

"Out of the way, out of the way, please!"

Several security guards pushed the crowd back as the black limo door opened and a dwarfish man in a purple suit hopped out, hobbling along the sidewalk to the stadium. Cameras flashed and a few reporters tried getting words in with the man, who just kept walking. He evaporated into the stadium, the doors closing behind him, keeping the crowd out.

Sam made his way to the back of the crowd, tapping a kid on the shoulder. "Pardon me. Who just went into the stadium?"

"That was Enormous Ernie. He's challenging Don Gojira to a duel for his spot in the tournament!"

_Don Gojira? If he's dueling, I have to see it. I have to see him in action before the tournament starts in order to witness his strategies and prepare for our inevitable duel. I can't let him win this. I have to defeat him for my father!_ "Who is Enormous Ernie? I've never heard of him before."

"Ah, he's some hot shot from Hollywood. He acts like a noob so you'll go easy on him and then he strikes you down before you know it. I think Gojira's going to beat him. He's just too good to lose."

_Maybe against this Ernie fellow, but he'll go down when he faces me. I'll make sure of it. I will never stop until he pays for what he did._ "I have to get in there and see this."

"Good luck. It's a limited ticket event. First come, first serve."

Sam frowned and turned away from the stadium, taking off toward an alley. If he couldn't get in through the front, he'd try a different route. He stopped at the start of the alley, checking for any cameras nearby. When the coast was clear, he bolted down the corridor, trying not to step on anything that would create too much noise.

Out of nowhere, a black-clad man with haphazardly spiked blonde hair and piercing green eyes emerged from the shadows, holding out his hand like a crossing guard would to stop traffic.

Not wanting to hit the man, Sam tried to slow down, but he was going too fast and the man was too close. He sidetracked, smashing into a dumpster and rolling over in front of the man, rubbing his forehead, his vision a bit blurry from the collision. He groaned as he felt two hands wrap around his chest and pull him to his feet.

"Uh, thank you…" he said, shaking his head and brushing off the rubbish from his jeans. "I don't mean to be rude, but I've got to get going. Goodbye now."

"You want to defeat him, don't you?" the man spoke in a provoking voice.

Sam looked at the man strangely. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Don Gojira… You want to defeat him."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Who are you?"

"Don't play games with me, Sam. I know all about your conflict with him. I can help you beat him. I can help you humiliate him!"

"Even if that were true, I don't need help. I'm capable of beating him on my own."

"You're a fool. You'd be crushed. I know how powerful he is and I can tell just by looking at you that you don't stand a chance."

"Whatever. I'm out of here. Take your crazy talk to someone else."

"When you change your mind, you can find me in the basement of the card shop."

Before Sam could blink, the man had disappeared into the shadows again. _Well, that was strange. Anyway, I've got to get into the stadium and see Gojira dueling. Maybe Ernie will last long enough so that_—As he said that, familiar faces from the crowd began walking past the alley in the opposite direction of the stadium. They were all murmuring about the duel and how short it was. Sam rushed to the end of the alley, listening in on some of the conversations.

"In one turn! That was epic."

"I wish it would've lasted longer."

"That guy's definitely going to win the tournament. No offense to our state's champ, but that Gojira guy is just way too good."

Hearing this, Sam's hopes fell a bit. He knew Gojira was good, but it appeared he'd gotten a lot better since they'd last encountered each other. _Maybe that guy was right. It seems Gojira's gotten better than I calculated. I'm not sure I can defeat him now. I mean, that duel was over in one turn. Can I compete against that? I know I'm a good duelist, but still. Even though I was going easy on him, Shawn did beat me, and if he can beat me, there's no telling how badly Gojira would beat me. Ugh, I have no choice but to see what that guy meant when he said he could help me._ Making his way through the parade of kids, he pushed on toward the card shop where the man had said he'd be.

Sam found himself in the card shop near the stadium, wondering how the man expected him to get into the basement. It wasn't like it was open to the public or anything. He didn't want to look suspicious, so he began checking out the cards.

"Hello there," peeped the shop owner, looking over Sam's shoulder. "How can I help you today?"

Sam faced the owner, noticing the dark bags under his eyes at once. _He looks like he hasn't slept in days, but he was just fine the other day when I came in to get some cards. Strange._ "This is going to sound odd, but you didn't happen to see a man in the basement, did you?"

The shop owner's face turned grim and he began walking away. "Follow me, please." He led Sam through the back and to a set of stairs leading to the basement. When he looked at Sam again, his eyes had glazed over and a golden eye had centered itself on his forehead, shining brightly. "Just as I thought, you came to me in need of my assistance. You may be wondering what's happened to the man in front of you. I'll explain when we meet face-to-face. This was just a glimpse at what I am capable of, just to show you that I'm not lying when I say I can truly help you in your mission. Now, enter the basement and we'll talk."

The shop owner gasped, and the shining eye on his forehead disappeared. He hunched over and walked back to the front of the shop, leaving Sam, who ventured down the steps.

Tons of boxes stacked on top of each other filled half the room, while the other half contained only a table and a few chairs. There were a couple doors leading to other rooms, but it seemed apparent that this was the room he'd be talking to the mysterious man in.

"Take a seat, Sam." The man's familiar voice rang throughout the room. Sam tentatively obeyed, and soon the man showed himself, holding a long, metallic, golden scepter in one hand and a small golden box in the other. "I'm glad you're here."

"I just wanted to know how you planned on helping me," Sam responded bluntly, not taking his eyes off the man. _I've got a bad feeling about this guy, but if he's telling the truth, I could use his help._

The man placed the golden box onto the table, removing its lid and sliding it over to Sam. "This is a deck made from rare cards. With this deck, you'll be able to easily defeat Gojira."

Sam took the cards out of the box, shuffling through them, astonished at a bold majority of them. He'd seen a great many cards over the two years he'd been dueling, but some of these were a complete mystery to him. "How did you acquire such rare cards? Some of these I've never even seen before."

The man snickered. "That doesn't matter right now. What does matter is that you defeat Gojira in the tournament and go to Battle City 2."

"All I want is to defeat Gojira," Sam said, placing the cards back in the box. "Battle City 2 is of no importance to me."

This clearly irritated the man, who pointed the golden scepter Sam, the two curved blades on either side of the bulb in the middle aimed at him. "You _will_ go to Battle City 2!"

Sam stood up. "And if I don't?"

Without warning, a golden beam emitted from the scepter, penetrating Sam's face. Soon a feint golden aura surrounded him, and the same glowing eye the shop owner had was now visible on Sam's forehead.

"Now you are under my control, Sam!" declared the man, chortling. "Everything is going as planned. Soon you'll face Gojira in the tournament, and whether you win or lose, I'll still be the winner in the end." His chortling grew louder as Sam sat across from him, completely void of any emotion or thought. _Soon I'll have everything I need to reach my goal!_

-0-0-0-0-

The rest of the day progressed quicker than anybody had hoped. Tons of tourists from around the state came to Godzilla City for the tournament, bringing lots of revenue to the businesses around town. Most of the duelists entered in the tournament took the latter half of the day to rest up for the tournament that started tomorrow. As the sun went down, activity around the stadium picked up as a press conference was being held.

In front of the entrance was a large stage setup, a long table with ten seats atop it, and a podium in front of the table in the center. Each seat was taken by a competitor in the tournament, or someone affiliated with KaibaCorp. Among them was Derek, as well as Don Gojira and Gavin McKnight.

"Mister Gojira, how do you feel about your competition? Are you intimidated at all?"

Sitting in a chair near the middle of a long table of competitors was Don Gojira, wearing his trademark McAwesome T-shirt and blue jeans. His green eyes scanned the crowd and locked onto the reporter who'd asked the question, after which he leaned in and put his mouth to the microphone. "I'm not intimidated by anything. I'm the best duelist here and everybody knows it. Nobody can stand up to the abuse my deck brings. Everywhere I go somebody thinks they can challenge me and claim they're the best because they beat a two-time regional champion, but they always end up in shambles, defeated, broken, and left in a heap of crap. I've never been defeated and I never will be."

"Excuse me, but aren't you forgetting about your defeat at the hands of Seto Kaiba?" the same reporter asked.

Gojira grimaced, clenching his fists. "Grr, I was an amateur back then! Next question!" _I'll never forget that battle. It was one of my first duels at the competitive level. If I had the deck I have now back then, there's no way Kaiba would've won. I'll show everybody that fact when I defeat him soon enough._

Another reporter stood up, holding out a recorder. "This one is for you, Mister Myers. Do you feel at all afraid you might lose your state championship title at the tournament this weekend? You have quite the competition."

Derek grinned confidently and pulled the mic in closer to him. "Not at all. In fact, I'm thrilled that there are such strong opponents. It wouldn't be a very fun tournament without them. I won't lose my title, but I will gain another one when I go to Battle City 2 and win the title of King of Games from Yugi Moto."

The crowd began to clamor again, buzzing with questions and statements to be had. From afar, Sam leaned against a street lamp, watching with crossed arms, his eyes glued to Gojira.

"Hey, Sam! What's up, buddy?"

Sam blinked, pushing himself off the street lamp as Shawn and Mindy approached him, both holding ice cream cones.

"Oh, hey. What are you guys doing down here? I thought you'd be practicing for the tournament," Sam wondered.

Mindy licked her ice cream cone, then said, "We're all done. I figured there'd be no point in continuing after we'd done all we could. It would only tire Shawn out before his big day." _Hm, for some reason, I feel like I just made a reference to DragonBall Z._

"Smart choice. I'm eagerly awaiting seeing you duel, Shawn. I want to see how much you've progressed in one day." _Either way, it won't be enough to defeat me. I won't let you stand in my way, Shawn, even though we are friends._

Shawn laughed after gulping down the rest of his cone. "I guess we'll see when the tournament begins." _I just hope with everything Mindy's taught me, I can make it past the first round. I've already seen one of my fellow competitors, and if he's any indication as to what the rest will be like, I'm in for the toughest duels of my life._

Sam nodded. "Right. Your friend Derek is over there with the other two that were on the poster Mindy showed you. It's a press conference it appears. Anyway, it's getting late, and I've got to get some rest. I'll see you at the tournament tomorrow."

"Goodbye," Shawn waved, returning his focus to the press conference. "So that's Don Gojira and Gavin McKnight, huh? From what you guys have told me, Gojira uses a deck focused on Dragons, and those monsters are pretty tough. I'll have to watch out for him and hope I don't face him in the first round. I wish I knew something about McKnight, though."

"Relax, Shawn," said Mindy, grasping his hand and tugging away from the conference. "Let's get some rest, yeah? We can YouTube the conference later."

"Rest? You mean…together?" Shawn looked to her oddly.

She let go of his hand. "Duh. I already made sure it was okay with your mom for me to sleep over. It's not like we're going to do anything other than duel and sleep. Get your mind out of the gutter!"

_Sometimes I really hate how she can read my mind._ Shawn exhaled sharply. "Okay, if you think that's best. I don't even know if I can sleep. I'm way too nervous." _Not only about the tournament, but about being around you for so long._

Mindy shook her head. "It's okay to be nervous. Just don't let it overcome you." She paused. "I-I hope it's okay with you…me sleeping over and all. I don't want things to get awkward between us. I just want you to know I'm committed to helping you every step of the way."

"I appreciate that," Shawn said, moving along with her on the sidewalk. _With her by my side, I think tomorrow will be a great day._


	5. The Tournament Begins

**Chapter 5: The Tournament Begins**

The aroma of eggs and bacon broke across Shawn's nose, lifting him from his slumber. He rolled over, falling out of his bed, which woke him up fully. _Today's the day, Shawn. Today's the day everything changes for me. I'll no longer be an amateur. I'll finally prove that I can be someone, that I can be the best._

Entering the kitchen, he was pleasantly surprised to see Mindy setting a plate of golden scrambled eggs and crisp bacon on the table. _Is this a dream?_

Seeing him, Mindy's face lit up. "Hey, sleepy head. It's about time you got up. I made breakfast! I hope you like it." She giggled in her girly way, stepping away as Shawn took his seat and dug in. "We were out of spices so it's a good thing your mom had some sitting under the sink."

Hearing this, Shawn spit the contents of his mouth back onto his plate, grabbing the napkin by his plate and wiping his tongue of the remains. "Mindy! That was rat poison! You put rat poison in my eggs! Oh god, I'm going to die! I'm going to die!" He jutted from the table and ran to the sink, turning it on and spraying his mouth full of water frantically.

All the while, Mindy was laughing her butt off. She sat at the table, taking some of the bacon. "I was kidding, Shawn. I really got you there."

Shawn facepalmed, taking his seat again, trying to play it off. "I knew you wouldn't do such a thing. I was just playing along."

Mindy nodded, taking another bite of her bacon. "Uh huh, sure, you were. Did you have a nice sleep? You were sleep talking."

_Oh no, what did I say?_ "I had a dream that I was talking to this Egyptian woman who was telling me about the Egyptian God Cards resurfacing or something. It was weird, but whatever. It was just a dream."

Mindy tilted her head a bit. "The God Cards resurfacing? Huh. You know, I did see that the Egyptian exhibit at the museum would be put up again for Battle City 2. Maybe you'll meet that lady from your dream there."

"I doubt it," said Shawn. "It was just a dream. It's not like I'm from Ancient Egypt like Yugi or Kaiba."

_I hope not. I don't want you going through what they did at the first Battle City._ "Yeah, you're probably right. Anyway, eat up. It's 10:30 and the tournament starts at noon. We should go over your deck and strategies a couple more times before we leave, just to be sure, okay?"

Gulping down the rest of his eggs, he nodded. "Yeah. Man, I can't believe I'm so close already."

"Just don't let it get to your head. We haven't even gotten there yet." _And even when we do get there, it's a long road to the finish line._

-0-0-0-0-

With the press of a button on his car remote, Derek's muscle car roared to life, the engine rumbling like a soft thunder. The duelist stood on the porch of his house, a dark gray belt slung around his waist that held a deck box housing his cards, and black sunglasses over his eyes. He moved down the steps, taking in his surroundings. The day was beautiful with the sun beating overhead and a cool breeze blowing intermittently. Birds flew through the sky in formation, enjoying the day to come.

"Okay, I'm ready."

Derek turned to a young woman, her straight brunette hair flowing halfway down her back, lying over her gray T-shirt. She adjusted the blue wristbands she wore and beamed at Derek. Her soft brown eyes gave him a kind of calmness that nobody else in the world could give him. Through her eyes, his inner demons were forced back to their hiding places.

"What took so long? We might be late," Derek said half-heartedly.

She wrapped her arms around him and tilted her head up to him. "Not with the way you drive, babe. You're going to do great today. The other duelists can't prepare enough for you."

"Thanks," he responded, lifting her up and carrying her to the car, where he set her down and opened the door for her. Once she'd gotten in, he took another look around the area, then headed for his side.

-0-0-0-0-

Mindy and Shawn arrived at the KaibaCorp dueling stadium in the midst of chaos. Dozens of people, duelists or not, crowded the sidewalk leading in and out of the structure. Police officers were employed in order to direct traffic, otherwise there'd be jams and accidents all over the area. KaibaCorp staff and security were scattered amongst the sea of humans, trying to keep order.

"It looks like you'll have to present your ticket over at that door," Mindy said, pointing to a door where a line of duelists formed. "It doesn't look like I can go in with you there, so I'll meet you inside."

"Okay, I'll see you in a bit," Shawn said, trying to wave goodbye to Mindy, but he was shoved out of the way as more people tried to push their way through the madness.

He slowly made it over to the door Mindy had pointed out, standing in line, waiting for his time. He scoped the duelists in front and behind him, trying to get a look at his competition. _Wow, I didn't think there'd be so many people entered. Some of these guys look like easy pickings, but on the other hand, I probably look like an easy win, too. I'll just have to keep my guard up and be prepared for anything, I guess._ He looked in the direction he'd last seen Mindy, and couldn't keep from thinking about her. _Last night was really fun. I wish we hung out like that more often. I mean, she even made me breakfast. I can't tell if she's just being nice or if she actually likes me like I like her. I should've just told her how I felt the other night._

The line began moving and he was pushed forward by the kid behind him. He looked ahead and noticed he was only a few people behind now.

Finally making it inside the building, Mindy noticed Shawn wasn't in yet. She crawled through the crowd toward the door he would be coming in through, abruptly bumping into a familiar face.

"Mindy, how are you?" asked Sam, a cheerful smile upon his mug. "I'm assuming you're here with Shawn. I haven't seen him yet."

"Yeah, he's still in line," Mindy said, turning back toward the door. "Oh, I see him. He just got in." She turned to him. "Has anything been announced yet?"

Sam shook his head. "No, but the tournament should be starting any moment now. We should head to the arena."

As he said that, Shawn found them, taking a place by Mindy. "So, Sam, are you ready to duel?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," he responded. "Shawn, I want to warn you of something." _Don't even think about it, Sam. If you so much as speak a word of what I've told you, I'll cripple your mind and you'll never defeat Gojira! Stay quiet!_

"Yeah?"

Sam hesitated for a moment. "Oh, um, just that I intend to win so watch out. We may be friends but this is a tournament, after all." _That's what I thought, Sam._

Shawn nodded in confirmation.

Just then, the PA system squeaked, alerting everybody of its presence. "Attention! Attention all inhabitants! The tournament is now starting. Will all duelists please appear on the arena floor, and all civilians please head to their seats? I repeat: the tournament is now starting. All duelists should head to the arena floor, and all civilians should take their seats. Thank you."

Saying their goodbyes, Shawn and Sam departed from Mindy, heading their separate ways.

A dazzling display of lights garnered the attention of everybody in the arena. Pyrotechnics flared as everyone settled in, waiting for the official announcement to start the tournament. On the floor were all of the duelists, patiently waiting, and in the comfortable seats around the floor were the civilians, anxious to see some duels.

With a loud pop, a brilliant green flare shot up from the middle of the floor, and soon a platform rose out, a man standing in the center of it with a microphone in hand. The cheering slowly died down as he put the microphone to his mouth. "Welcome, duelists and non-duelists alike, to the first ever Battle City 2 Qualifier Tournament!" As quickly as the cheering had died down, it started up again, and then slowed as the skinny man spoke. "As the title suggests, this tournament will determine who qualifies for the second Battle City Tournament. Now, I suppose you all want a rundown of the rules.

"Rule number one: Each duel will be played with the Duel Disk you received at registration, unless given special permission from Seto Kaiba himself to use a non-standard version of the Disk. If you're found dueling without the Duel Disk, the duel will be voided and will not count toward your ranking in the tournament. Rule number two: Each duel will be played with 4,000 Life Points, and direct attacks are permitted. Rule number three: No cheating. This includes stacking your deck, sleeving, cutting, trimming, and marking your cards, or tampering with your opponent's cards. If you are found guilty of cheating, you will be disqualified immediately. Rule number four: Each duelist is to abide by the official tournament Forbidden Card list, which can be found in your rulebooks. Rule number five: Decks may have a maximum of 40 cards. If your deck has more than that, I suggest changing it before we get underway, or you'll be disqualified. The last and most important rule: Have fun!

"With the rules out of the way, let me explain how the rankings will work. There are 16 entrants. Those competitors will face off in twos until two are left. Those two will face each other for the right to compete in Battle City 2!"

This sent the crowd into a frenzy, cheering uproariously. The noise level was deafening in the arena suited for 5,000 people.

Down on the floor, Shawn and Sam were overcome with joy, finding it hard to remain in one place as the man explained the tournament format. Suppressing the urge to yell out, Shawn took a glimpse at the stands, trying to search out Mindy. Due to the vast amount of people, it took a moment, but he finally found her near the bottom. He waved to her, waiting as she waved back.

The tournament announcer began speaking once more. "To keep a level playing field, each match will be decided at random, so you won't know who you'll be facing until right before your match! The tournament will span today and tomorrow. All right, folks, it's time to prepare. The first match of the tournament begins in fifteen minutes! In the meantime, enjoy yourselves in the lobby and gift shops spread around the building!"

The platform lowered back below the floor, the man disappearing with it, leaving the duelists and onlookers to begin mingling. Shawn and Sam departed toward the stands where Mindy was, encountering a group of four boys who were all too familiar to Shawn.

"Well, well, if it isn't the little squirt from before."

Standing with his little brother and two goons, the boy who'd almost beaten up Shawn outside the card shop stood smugly in front of the two duelists.

"Great, it's you guys," Shawn said with disdain in his voice. "What do you want now?"

"My little brother and I are entered in this tournament if you couldn't already tell by the Duel Disks on our arms," Mitch noted. "We're going to pay you back for embarrassing us before, and your buddy Derek Myers can't help you this time."

Shawn stood defiantly. "I don't need his help to beat you guys in a duel."

"My Summoned Skull begs to differ," Mitch said, moving away with his group. "I'll see you soon, kid."

"You know them?" Sam asked.

"They tried to beat me up and take my new cards the other day," Shawn explained, beginning to walk. "Derek showed up and they ran away like the punks they are. I wouldn't mind beating them to show them what's what."

"Speaking of dueling, what do you think the odds are of us getting paired against each other in the first round?"

"I'm not sure, but I really hope we don't have to duel each other this early on. I don't want to duel my friends until late in the game when I've gotten past the others." _To be honest, I just don't want to eliminate you from the tournament this early._

Sam opened his mouth to speak, but stopped abruptly. _Sam, meet me near the back exit. We have something to discuss before you do any dueling. _Not wanting to suffer any consequences, Sam grudgingly obeyed his "master", and left the company of Shawn without saying a word.

Shawn noticed after a long silence befell him, but as he turned to watch Sam leave, Mindy arrived, immediately stealing his attention. "Hey, Mindy, isn't this exciting? I can't wait to see who duels first!" _I hope it's that little kid or his brother. I can't wait to cream them in front of everybody here._

Holding a piece of paper in her hands, she placed herself next to Shawn, looking out at all the duelists that hadn't left the floor yet.

"What are you doing, Mindy?"

"Trying to put names to faces. It'll be easier to sort out the wienies that way."

"What?" He laughed heartily. "Okay, whatever you say. Have you seen Derek?"

"I saw him go out to the lobby with some girl. Why?"

"I just wanted to wish him luck in the tournament. He'll need it if he ends up facing me, after all!" _Man, why did I just say that? I still don't think I can beat him…_

Mindy folded the paper up and put it in her bra, sighing. She was happy Shawn had gotten so confident over the past couple days, but he seemed a little too confident for his own good at this point, and she didn't want to see that overconfidence hurt him in his first match. She checked her cell phone for the time. "It's been almost ten minutes. I wonder who will duel first. Hopefully it's a couple of the more seasoned duelists. That way you'll see how they play and you can think of some strategies to beat them if you face them later on."

"Is that what you think?"

Recognizing that voice, Mindy swiftly rotated herself around, eyeing Don Gojira as he drew near them, her blood getting hotter as he got closer. "Yes, that's what I think. Obviously you think otherwise, or you wouldn't be commenting."

"You're smart," Gojira said, stopping a few feet from them. As powerful as he was as a duelist, he was only the same height as Mindy, surprisingly. "You can watch my duels as much as you'd like, but the simple fact is that you can't formulate any worthwhile strategy to take me down. I'm the best duelist here, and once I win this tournament, I'll go on to Battle City 2 and claim my rightful title as the King of Games."

Shawn clenched a fist to his side. _This guy's asking for it. He's way too cocky._ "I'll bring you down, just wait. You're not as unbeatable as you believe."

Gojira smirked. "You? Defeat me?" Gojira guffawed loudly, annoying Shawn and Mindy. "I won't hold my breath for a chode like you." _As far as I'm concerned, only two people here have enough skill to even think about challenging me._

"A what?" _What in the world is a chode? It sounds like an English dish or something._

"You heard me, chode boy."

"Gojira!" Derek's booming voice interrupted the argument as he advanced to their position with the brunette woman at his side, their hands clasped. "Pick on someone your own caliber, huh? Leave the small fries to someone else."

With a grunt, Gojira turned in a half circle. "So, Derek, is that what you're up to these days? Protecting amateur duelists like this kid? Not very fitting of a champion, now, are you? You should be instilling fear in kids, not hope. If they fear you they'll never think to challenge you."

"You can't progress if you're not challenged. Even you know that."

"Whatever," Gojira said, moving away from them. "I'll see you in the finals, Derek, since I expect someone of your skill to make it that far, at least."

Ignoring Gojira's last words, Derek put a smile on. "I'm glad you guys are here. I want you to meet my girlfriend, Lauren."

Lauren, Shawn, and Mindy exchanged words and shook hands, seemingly gelling from the get-go.

"Are you entered in the tournament?" Mindy asked, her eyes dropping down to Lauren's shoes. "Oh, I love those shoes!"

"Thanks! And, no, I leave all the dueling to Derek. I work for Industrial Illusions, though, so I'm still part of the action in a way."

Shawn's eyes popped. "You work with the creator of Duel Monsters himself! That must be so awesome! What's it like? What do you do? Do you get to make new cards?"

Lauren gave an embarrassed laugh. "I'm an artist, so I create the images you see on some cards. Mister Pegasus has to personally approve each of my images before they're put onto the cards, so I get to see him a lot actually. He's a pretty swell guy."

The lighting in the stadium dimmed, causing everybody to look around in confusion. Soon their eyes were all set upon the big screen hanging on the farthest wall from the entrance, projecting an image of the KaibaCorp emblem for a moment before switching to a tournament bracket. The fork in the bottom left corner lit up. It switched again, this time to a split-screen displaying two duelists.

"The first match of the preliminary rounds will now begin – Tiencha Krillin vs. Don Gojira! Will both duelists please take their places on the field? All persons not participating in the duel, please vacate the arena floor. Thank you."

Snagging some seats near the bottom, the group paid attention as Don Gojira took his place on one side of the field, and a short, bald-headed kid wearing an orange karate gi took the opposite side.

"Let's see if this guy's as good as he says he is," Shawn wondered, folding his arms and sitting back in his seat. "At least I can see how he duels now, like you said, Mindy."

Huge amounts of people piled in as the duel was about to start and the lights returned to normal. The commotion simmered down as each duelist activated their Duel Disk, signifying that the duel had officially begun.

"I get to go first," Tiencha Krillin said, crouching in a defensive position as he began his turn. "First I'll place two cards face-down, and then I'll summon Karate Man [3/1000/1000]!" He slotted two cards into the back row, the holograms appearing in place, and then a third card appeared vertically on the field in front of them. For a moment nothing happened except a shining aura around the face of the card.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Gojira asked, tapping his foot. "I've got things to do besides wait for your move to finish!"

"Just wait," the bald-headed duelist said, performing a sequence of finger movements. Once he finished, a black and orange blur moved from the shining card hologram on the field. Coming into view at last was a dark-skinned man with a large fro tied up with a dark orange ribbon. He was dressed in a gi, similar to Krillin's, although this one was a dirty yellow color instead of bright orange.

In the stands, Shawn couldn't help but laugh, although he quickly wondered why Krillin would summon such a weak monster in Attack Mode. "Is there something I'm missing, guys? That monster's too weak to do anything."

"Look closer," Mindy said. "It's special ability allows it to double its attack for one turn. The drawback is that it gets destroyed at the end of the turn that effect is used."

Shawn watched on, giving Krillin a little more credit now. "Ahh. That's interesting. So if Gojira attacks with a monster with less than 2,000 attack points, Krillin can use his monster's effect?"

This time Derek chimed in. "Not quite. Karate Man's effect can only be used during its controller's turn, so Krillin wouldn't be able to activate it if Gojira attacked with a stronger monster."

"But then he's wide open to an attack, isn't he?"

"That's where his two face-downs come into play, I'm assuming."

"I waited for _this_ fool? What a joke," Gojira said flatly, drawing his card. "This duel will end with my victory, rest assured. Now, I summon Spear Dragon [4/1900/0] to the field!"

Emerging from its card, a blue- and cream-colored dragon hopped onto the field, spreading its long, triangular wings. Its enormous beaked head was larger than its irregularly small body. Two white horns protruded from the back of its long skull, giving it a fierce appearance. It knelt down, waiting for a command to attack its prey.

"I activate a Trap!"

One of Krillin's face-downs flipped up and a dozen miniature knights holding wooden shields filed out of the card, standing in front of his Karate Man protectively. Karate Man gave a thumbs up, then flipped out, disappearing as his card fell down.

"It's called Ready for Intercepting, and it flips my monster into face-down Defense Position. Now my Life Points will be safe from your attack, even if I lose my monster."

Despite this, Gojira calmly called out to his monster. "Spear Dragon, attack his monster with Cyclone Blast!"

The spear-nosed dragon fluttered its wings, kicking up a small gust of wind as it lifted off the ground. The gust soon grew bigger, swirling around the dragon's spear of a nose, creating the illusion that its nose was spinning like a drill. It jetted straight into the line of knights, effortlessly crashing through them as if they were made from paper, then dipped straight down and pierced Krillin's face-down monster. The card dematerialized, Karate Man's yell fading as he left the field.

"Oh, and did I mention Spear Dragon's special ability? You take damage equal to the difference between his attack points and your monster's defense points!"

Krillin gasped, surprised at this, but soon regained his composure [Krillin: 4,000 - 3,100].

"The only drawback is my dragon is forced to go into Defense Mode once he's successfully attacked, and he's got zero defense points, so he's wide open for an attack." Spear Dragon knelt down, folding its wings in front of it defensively. Gojira slotted two cards, waiting as they appeared on the field. "I'll end my turn by setting down two face-downs." _With these in place, I'm sure to win the duel. This bald freak will never see it coming._

"Good, because it's my go!" Krillin whipped out a card and stood up straight, clasping his hands together in a praying motion. He whispered an inaudible chant, then placed his card on his Duel Disk. "I'll use my Armored Ninja Earth's [5/1600/1200] special ability to Special Summon it to the field since I control no monsters while you do. Then I'll summon my White Ninja [4/1500800]."

First to appear on the field was a man covered from head-to-toe in brown clothing. He had metal armor around his feet, calves, forearms, hands, elbows, and knees, and a short sword was strapped to his back, ready for use whenever needed. Striking a pose next to Armored Ninja Earth was White Ninja, who was dressed in all white with some grayish-blue on some parts of his armor, and two scarves whipping behind him. He held a ninja star in each hand, ready to strike.

"First I'll attack with my White Ninja!"

The white-clad ninja jumped high into the air, the audience having trouble seeing it so close to the ceiling. It gracefully fell back down, tossing its two razor stars into the defending Spear Dragon, destroying it.

"Now I'll attack you directly with Armored Ninja Earth!"

The brown armored ninja unsheathed its sword, twirling it in its hand before diving toward Gojira, who raised his hand as the ninja got near.

"I activate my Trap Card – Widespread Ruin!"

"Oh, no! That destroys my Armored Ninja!"

"That's right!"

Flames burst out of the purple card, engulfing the ninja in its destructive force, bits of data sizzling into nothingness. Krillin snarled hotly. Losing the strongest monster he had out on the field clearly wasn't in his plans. "I end my turn."

"Then let the destruction continue!" Gojira taunted, drawing his card.

"What do you think so far, Derek?" Shawn asked, facing his friend. "Does Gojira look like trouble?"

"Not the way he's playing now, but I know what he's doing," Derek responded as he rubbed Lauren's back. "He's saving his best combos for later in the tournament. He knows people will be watching him and studying his moves in order to combat him, but they can't combat what they don't know."

Shawn faced back to the match at hand. "Yeah, I suppose. Even holding back, he's still controlling this duel from the looks of it."

Gojira sniggered, picking a card out of his hand and sliding it into his Duel Disk. "I activate Enemy Controller! At the cost of 1,000 of my Life Points, this Spell Card allows me to take control of one of your monsters until the end of my turn. Don't worry, he won't be around for long, though." A large controller reminiscent of the Super Nintendo models materialized on the field. "Left, right, A, B!" At Gojira's command, the controller came to life, dialing in the code he gave. Soon it became surrounded in a bright green aura, zapping Krillin's White Ninja.

The ninja's body stiffened up, its head bobbing around like crazy as it struggled to break free of the invisible force that began pulling it toward Gojira's side of the field.

"My monster—!" Krillin shouted in protest, reaching out his hand.

"—Is now mine!" Gojira cackled, enjoying his opponent's displeasure. "And now I'll activate Cost Down. This lowers the level of every monster in my hand by two, which allows me to summon my all-powerful Tyrant Dragon [8/2900/2500] with only one sacrifice!"

A small flame flickered underneath the ninja's still-frozen body, growing larger and larger rapidly, soon swallowing it whole. The flames turned into a thick pillar, reaching all the way up to the ceiling. Brownish-orange wings filled in with blue skin dawned from the flaming pillar, and soon the entire muscular body of a pitiless dragon had emerged, its scaly skin steaming from the pillar that now dissipated. The dragon opened its jagged tooth-filled mouth and let out a savage roar, the frills on either side of its head adjusting to the displacement.

Tiencha Krillin staggered back, visibly intimidated by the dragon's presence. _Why does this always happen to me?_

Derek couldn't help but clap a little. "Brilliant move. By sacrificing his opponent's monster, he didn't have to use up his turn summoning something he was going to sacrifice anyway. He got right to the point." _I'd have done the same thing._

Shawn watched in awe as Gojira's newly summoned beast huffed, breathing a little fire as it stood by. _That dragon's amazing! It's so rare, too! I didn't think anybody here would have it._ "That was a brutal move. If we have to duel each other, I hope he doesn't use that on me. I'd hate to have one of my monsters used for my opponent's sacrifice, especially one of my stronger monsters."

"With that dragon's effect, most Trap Cards are useless against it," Lauren commented, leaning in a bit, showing interest in the match.

"What do you mean?" asked Shawn. Having never seen the monster be used in a duel or up close, he'd never had the chance to read its effect. He'd only ever seen glimpses of it and heard that it was one of the rarest dragons in the world. "You mean it's invulnerable to certain ones?"

"Precisely," Lauren nodded. "It can't be targeted by cards like Dimensional Prison or Spellbinding Circle. It can, however, be destroyed by cards like Mirror Force."

Gojira directed his index finger expeditiously toward his quivering opponent. "Tyrant Dragon, attack him directly with Dragon Flame Blast!" _He's got nothing to stop my dragon from annihilating him! Another attack after this and he's finished!_

The dragon lurched its head back, a bright red glow forming at the base of its neck and traveling upward until it reached its mouth. With a quick push, the dragon opened its mouth, yanking its head forward, the flaming ball jetting straight at Krillin.

"Wait! I activate Sakuretsu Armor! This will destroy your dragon and stop its attack!"

Forming from the purple card, a werewolf creature half covered in sharp silver armor stepped onto the field, taking off toward Gojira's monster.

"You fool! My dragon can't be destroyed by Traps that target! Your Armor is useless!"

Gojira was proven right as Tyrant Dragon's fireball blasted right through the armor, smacking into Krillin and carrying him several feet backward. He rose to his feet, returning to his place and carrying on the match [Krillin: 3,100 - 200].

"Haven't you learned your lesson yet?" Gojira continued his taunting as the crowd cheered for him. "I'm the best. You can't win this. Your field is completely empty. I'll destroy you on my next turn!"

Krillin brushed his bald head off, furrowing his brow. He drew a card and immediately gave a look of disappointment. "I place one monster face-down and end my turn." _This is the best I can do for now._

"That's what I thought," Gojira said, taking a card from his deck. "I activate my face-down card – Dragon's Rage! Now, whenever one of my dragons attacks a Defense Position monster, the difference between its attack points and that monster's defense points are deducted from your Life Points! Yeah, you thought you'd gotten rid of Spear Dragon, but his essence is still on the field!"

_It's all over! I've got nothing to defend myself. My face-down monster was my last hope, and now he's going to attack my Life Points regardless! Darn it all! I knew I should've trained harder!_ Krillin fell to his knees, already accepting defeat. _I'm sorry, master. I failed you._

"Tyrant Dragon, finish him off."

With noticeably less effort than before, Tyrant Dragon blasted Krillin onto his back, depleting his Life Points and ending the duel [Krillin: 200 - 0]. It faded away with a final mighty roar as the holographic imaging was turned off and the Duel Disks were deactivated.

"Don Gojira is the winner!" the announcer shouted at the top of his lungs, covering his ears as the crowd jeered for him crazily. "The next match will take place in fifteen minutes, folks!" 

Gojira grimaced and looked into the audience, somehow finding Shawn and the others, giving them a look before departing for the locker room.

_You put on a good show, Don, but you don't scare me. I know I can take you down. Maybe not easily, but it'll happen._ Derek stood up with Lauren, their hands clasped, and started off toward the lobby. "I'll catch you later, guys. I've got some preparing to do."

"See you later," Shawn said, waving nonchalantly.

"That was pretty impressive," Mindy said, putting her feet up on the seat in front of her. "When Tyrant Dragon came out, I knew it was over for that Tiencha dude. Mirror Force is a really rare card, so I doubt he had one, and it's one of the only few that could've stopped Tyrant Dragon. Oh well. I hope you learned something from that short duel, Shawn."

"I did," he responded, removing his deck from his pocket and viewing the top card. It was his Cyber-Tech Alligator. "I've got some really tough duels ahead of me." _If Derek and Gojira don't knock each out, I'll probably end up facing one of them, and I can't tell which one is worse at this point. Then there's that Gavin guy, who I haven't seen since the tournament started earlier. I don't know anything about him or his dueling strategies. If I have to face him before I see him duel, I could be in a world of trouble. Oh well, I just have to focus and believe in myself. I won't let Mindy down._

Leaning against a pillar near the top section of the stands, Sam pondered his chances against Gojira after finally seeing him in action. "He's tough," he told himself. "That kid didn't stand a chance. It wasn't over in one turn like his last duel, but it was still quicker than most duels last. I'll have to be more careful than I thought once I face him." _Listen up, Sam. The deck I gave you is more than powerful enough to destroy Gojira. Once you've beaten him, you must go to Battle City 2 and defeat Yugi Moto!_ Sam gritted his teeth. "Don't worry about it…"


	6. Shawn VERSUS Mikey

**Chapter 6: Shawn vs. Mikey**

After the first match, the tournament seemed to get a lot rowdier, maybe because the first match was so short, or because it showed the level of skill one needed to win it. Either way, many of the duelists entered headed straight to the locker room afterward to modify their decks. Even though he felt confident in what Mindy had taught him, Shawn still wondered if he should do the same.

"After your first match is when you should modify your deck," she told him as they passed the locker room.

Now they were in search of something to eat quickly before the next duel started. Most of the vendors were clogged up at the moment, leaving them without many choices and with time running out before the next match. They decided to wait in the line that seemed to be moving the fastest.

His mouth watering from the smell of the hotdogs, Shawn couldn't wait to mow down a few and then refresh himself with an ice cold soda. He hadn't eaten since breakfast, and even though he hadn't participated yet, watching was almost just as intense to him. Besides food, all he could think about was getting to the finals. He didn't know who he would face in his first duel, but he was set on winning, no matter who it was.

The large screens around the lobby were playing various things, including match recaps, win-loss records of some of the duelists, and the Forbidden Card list, which reminded Shawn that he still had to check his deck to make sure he had no forbidden cards in it.

He removed it from his pocket and skimmed through it, mentally comparing it to the Forbidden Card list he just saw. _It looks like I'm okay. I don't have any Egyptian Gods, Wicked Gods, or Sacred Beasts, and I definitely don't have Exodia. Most of the other cards are Burn cards, and I don't have any of those._

_Shawn, it's over for you!_

Shawn perked his head up, trying to pinpoint the direction of the creepy voice he heard. Nobody seemed to be talking to him. They were all minding their business. If someone had been talking to him, Mindy probably would've seen it, too, yet she seemed to be staring at him blankly.

"Shawn?"

He blinked, snapping back to her. "Sorry, I was spacing out for a moment. What's up?"

_That was odd._ "You looked weird. I was just making sure you were okay." She crossed her arms, puffing out her lip. "God, this is taking forever! We've been in this line for nearly ten minutes and barely moved. At this rate, we'll just be getting our food when the next match _ends_."

-0-0-0-0-

Drying his hands with a paper towel, Derek took a deep breath, exhaling sharply. He turned to the mirror, making sure he looked all right. He saw a person standing beside him, his immediate reaction twisting him to face the person, but there was no one there. The man he saw looked just like him, but his hair had red streaks running throughout it, he had dark bags under his eyes, and wore he all black.

"Get a grip on yourself, man," he said under his breath.

Suddenly, a wall of needles penetrated his brain, pushing his nerves to their limits, forcing excruciating pain into him. Both hands gripping his head, he gritted his teeth, his normal breathing turning into a pant. The affliction brought him to one knee. He shook his head, trying to disrupt the wave of pain, but the more he shook, the more it seemed like the pain acted as a pinball inside him, bouncing from side to side, delivering one piercing blow after another. _What's going on? What is this intense pain? Where the hell did it come from?_

Then it was gone, and he could breathe again. A stall door opened and a fat man walked out, perplexed by Derek on the floor.

"Hey, what are you doing on the floor? Were you spying on me?" He gave a wink to Derek.

Derek brought himself back up, looking in the mirror again. Horrified at the sight of dark bags under his eyes, he took off out of the bathroom, bumping into Lauren outside.

"Whoa, Dare, what's the big rush?" She put her hands to his face, seeing him panting and sweat dripping down his temples. "What happened?"

"I don't know how to explain it," he said, pulling her hands away from his face and moving away. "I just need to sit down…"

Lauren stared at him as he moved down the corridor, holding his head with one hand. _What's wrong with you, Derek?_

As she quickly ran to catch up with him, the fat man left the bathroom, stopping to watch them as they conversed indistinctly. _Good job, my mind slave. Another piece of the puzzle is put in place._

"Attention, duelists! The second match of the tournament will begin in two minutes! Participants Shawn Smith and Mikey Boxtart will be facing each other!"

-0-0-0-0-

As the PA system sounded, the halls started to get a little crazier as duelists and audience members rushed back to get good seats. The line for the vendor that Shawn and Mindy were in practically disappeared, leaving only them and a few starving people behind them.

Almost freaking out at the mention of his name, Shawn became quite jittery and bouncy. He couldn't stay in one place for the life of him. "Oh god, oh god, it's my match. What do I do?" He gripped Mindy's arms, giving her a puppy dog face. "I'm freaking out, man!"

She gripped his arms, then pushed him in a mocking yet playful way. "Go to your match, dude! You'll be disqualified if you stay here! Hurry!"

Shawn nodded affirmatively, then took off, running in the wrong direction at first. Soon after, he returned, waving to Mindy and running in the right direction.

It wasn't long before he made it to the dueling arena, sprinting so fast he almost collided with the referee, but stopped himself just short. The audience began cheering louder as he hopped to his side of the field.

"Let the duel begin!" yelled the referee, scuttling back to a safe distance.

Through all of his excitement, Shawn forgot who he was dueling. Standing on the other side of the field, smugly grinning, was Mikey, the kid he had wanted to duel since they encountered each other at the card shop. His excitement morphed into a strong dislike, propelling him forward in the duel as he drew his opening hand.

"Since I'm the obvious winner of the duel," Mikey said obnoxiously. "I'll go first. You don't mind, do you, sucker?"

Begrudgingly, Shawn shook his head. _This guy's really going to get it when I bring out my ultimate monster on his sorry butt._ "No, I don't mind. You might as well get ahead now while you can, after all."

"Then I'll start by summoning Acrobat Monkey [3/1000/1800] in Defense Mode!"

Out of its card came a small, blue and silver-colored robotic monkey, scratching its head and lightly grunting at Shawn. From its back was a long brown cord connected to a group of robotic bananas, which it was holding between its metallic feet.

"Then I'll play a face-down and end my turn. Let's see if you can get past my robotic slave, Shawny boy!" Mikey taunted.

_He's really getting on my nerves._ Well, let's see. Ah, perfect! "I summon the mighty Slate Warrior [4/1900/500] in Attack Mode!" Rising from its card was a multi-piece slate monster with a blue head sitting atop a yellow platter, though the platter was disjointed from its body, hovering slightly above it; its arms and legs were the same way. It had one metallic silver plate of armor covering its abdomen, while the rest was bare. "He's got more attack points than your monster has defense points!"

"Too bad he won't be around to use them," Mikey said, pressing a red button on his Duel Disk. "I activate Trap Hole! This Trap destroys any newly summoned monster with 1000 or more attack points, so say goodbye to your Slate Warrior!"

Mikey cackled obnoxiously as an endlessly deep hole opened up beneath Slate Warrior. With nothing to grab onto, the monster could do nothing but fall to its apparent death, dealing Shawn a big blow on his first turn.

"Fine, then I set two cards face-down and end my turn," Shawn said, placing the two desired cards into their designated slots on his Duel Disk. If he's going to use Trap Hole to destroy one of my monsters, I'll do the same to him.

Mikey jerked his card from his deck. "You're so pathetic, Shawny boy. I've already got you defenseless and it's only the third turn of the duel."

"Just make your move, Mikey. We'll see who's pathetic."

Pushed by his dislike of his opponent, Mikey placed a card on his Duel Disk vertically. "You asked for it. I summon Cannon Soldier [4/1400/1300]! His effect is going to be the end for you."

Facing Shawn was a weird mechanical being, armed with razor claws which Shawn could only imagine what they were used for. Mounted on its back was some type of gun, probably a machine gun. It clanged its razor claws together, signaling that it was ready for destruction.

Mockingly, Shawn laughed and said, "Too bad he won't be around to use it."

"Huh?"

"I activate _my_ Trap Hole, and you know what that does!"

Cheers from the crowd erupted as Shawn's Trap Hole swallowed up Mikey's monster, feeding Shawn's confidence in winning the duel. Up in the stands, Sam watched closely as his friend fought back from a no-so-good first turn.

"Fine, so you copied my brilliant move," Mikey said, playing it off. "It's not like it'll help you any. I've got plenty more monsters to replace him!" He removed three cards from his hand and placed them into his Duel Disk. "I place one card face-down, and then I activate the Continuous Spell Cards Machine Assembly Line and Machina Armored Unit!"

"What do those do?" Shawn asked the boy.

"Machine Assembly Line powers up all Machine-Type monsters' attack points by 200. It's got another effect but you'll find out soon enough what it is. Machina Armored Unit allows me to Special Summon a Machine-Type monster given the right conditions."

"And what would those conditions be?"

"You'll see. Make your move. It'll probably be your last." _With these cards in place, he'll never beat me. I've tested this strategy online against many people, and it's won 90% of the time!_

Shawn drew his card, but his mind wandered from the duel. _Where's Mindy? It's my first duel and she's nowhere to be found. I can't win this without her. Crap._ He surveyed the audience, finding Derek and Lauren near the bottom again, but no Mindy. "Here goes. I summon Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts [4/1500/1200] in Defense Mode, and then set one card face-down."

With a ravenous roar, the beast jumped from its card portal, appearing very similar to a lion, only this beast sported a sharp horn on its forehead and even larger claws. Shawn's face-down materialized behind it.

"That thing's way too pathetic to do anything, just like you," Mikey said, reaching for a card in his hand. "Behold my Blue Thunder T-45 [4/1700/1000]!" Traveling out of its card came a metal rocket ship, a thruster on either side, its blue visor glaring in the spotlight. "And since he's a Machine-Type monster, his attack is boosted up by 200 points, giving him 1900 attack points. That's enough to crush your Gazelle. Blue Thunder T-45, destroy his Gazelle now!"

The rocket ship's thrusters ignited, blue flames shooting out. It blasted off, flying over Gazelle, dropping a small missile onto the beast. The missile exploded, violently shredding the beast into tiny bits of data. As Blue Thunder returned to Mikey's side of the field, a small piece of metal fell from its underside, rolling around in electricity before it transformed into a duplicate of Mikey's monster.

"Blue Thunder's special ability kicks in whenever he destroys a monster by battle," Mikey explained. "It Special Summons a Thunder Option Token [4/1500/1500], and he also gets the benefit of 200 additional attack points, bringing him to 1700. Since he was brought out during the Battle Phase, I can attack with him, so that's exactly what I'm going to do!"

The token monster launched into the air, firing a barrage of small missiles at Shawn, who shielded himself from the blasts and waited for his opponent to finish.

[Shawn: 2300] – [Mikey: 4000]

"I think you've had enough for now," Mikey said. "That'll be all."

Mikey grumbled, still wondering where Mindy was. "Since you insist on powering up your monsters, I thought I'd power mine up, too. I activate the Field Spell Gaia Power!" The light from the sunroof increased, heating the arena up as the ground began to rumble. Shrubs and vines sprouted from the floor, and then came a monstrous tree, which allowed its roots to cover the entire field. "This handy Spell Card powers up all EARTH-Attribute monsters by 500 points, and I know exactly who to bring out now. Watch this – Alien Shocktrooper!"

A strange looking creature came to the field, looking like a frog with a horse's body structure. Most of its body was plated with shiny gray armor that led to sharp edges, much like the intimidating sword it held in its right hand.

"He started with 1900 attack points, but thanks to Gaia Power, he's now got 2400, and they're all gunning for your Blue Thunder! Go, Alien Shocktrooper!" Shawn commanded firmly.

The alien used its front pair of legs to propel itself into the air, coming down and using its back pair of legs to run wildly at the rocket ship, which turned on its reverse-thrusters, trying to get away in time. As the alien neared its target, it brought its jagged sword up above its head, mustering up energy. The ship only got so far before it was impaled through its visor with the alien's sword. Sparks flew as the ship started combusting, blowing into dozens of gadgets.

[Shawn: 2300] – [Mikey: 3500]

As the alien returned to its side of the field, Shawn smiled proudly. "That's the end of my turn. I think you should just give up."

Mikey laughed at Shawn's advice. "No way, man. I've got just the card to ruin you and bring about the end of this duel!"

"What would that be? Kuriboh?"

"You wish, but no. It's my Summoned Skull, and I'm sacrificing my Acrobat Monkey to bring him out!"

Shawn took a step back as a blast of lightning hit the field, a black shape inside the blast. He had nothing to stop this monster from being summoned, and nothing to defend himself with when it attacked. _Uh-oh, now I'm in trouble._ The fiendish creature emerged from its lightning prison, letting out a nasally bellow as it did.

The crowd grew even more fired up as Summoned Skull appeared. Now the duel was really heating up with such a powerful monster on the field, ready to pulverize Shawn's Alien Shocktrooper. Mikey noticed this and began pumping his fist in the air, gathering support for his triumph over Shawn.

Shawn gripped his cards tightly, peering into the crowd. _Mindy's still not here. What could she be doing? Come on, Mindy, I need you…_

"Summoned Skull, attack Alien Shocktrooper!"


	7. The Power of a Knight

**Chapter 7: The Power of a Knight**

"You'll never beat my Summoned Skull, you fool!" Mikey shouted, laughing maniacally.

Shawn threw up his hand, a face-down on his field activating. "That's what you think! I activate Draining Shield! This negates your monster's attack, and I gain Life Points equal to its attack points!" Summoned Skull's lightning barrage shifted from Alien Shocktrooper to an invisible forcefield that had formed around it.

[Shawn: 4800] – [Mikey: 3500]

Upset with this turn of events, Mikey ended his turn silently.

Shawn drew his card, a cheeky grin making its way onto his face. "First I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two more cards." He drew his cards, picking out one and holding it above his Duel Disk. "Do you know what card I'm holding?"

"It doesn't matter! I'll still beat you with my Summoned Skull!"

"We'll see about that!" Shawn slapped the card onto his Duel Disk. "I sacrifice my Alien Shocktrooper to summon my ace – Cyber-Tech Alligator [5/2500/1600]! Come forth!"

In the audience, Derek cracked a tiny smile as Shawn's monster came out. As long as he doesn't get cocky, he should be able to win now, but it'll take more than just that one monster.

"Our monsters are equal in attack power, so you just summoned a useless monster," Mikey said, laughing. _This kid's so stupid._

"Aren't you forgetting your Machine Assembly Line? It works for all Machines on the field, including my Cyber-Tech Alligator, giving him more attack power than your monster. And after I equip my Alligator with Amulet of Ambition, he'll be even stronger!" Shawn slid the Spell Card into his Duel Disk, watching as a golden amulet with a giant eyeball in the middle of it became visible on the half-robot-half-pterodactyl. "With this equipped to my monster, whenever he attacks a monster with a higher level than him, he gets 500 extra attacks points per level. Since your Summoned Skull is a 6-star monster, my Alligator gains 500 extra attack points. Now, Cyber-Tech Alligator, get rid of his Summoned Skull with Cyber Slash Attack!"

The powered-up cybernetic creature lunged forward with incredible speed, giving Summoned Skull no time to protect itself. Cyber-Tech Alligator dropped its mechanical arm onto Summoned Skull's boney face, its claws digging in deeply. It dragged its arm downward, pulling out at the fiend's waist. As Shawn's monster returned to its side of the field, Mikey's split into data particles, costing him 700 points of damage.

[Shawn: 4800] – [Mikey: 2800]

With Shawn gaining the upper hand, the audience now cheered for him instead of Mikey. Unfortunately, Mindy was still not in attendance. This caused even Derek to wonder where she was.

"I'll be back," he told Lauren, leaving his seat. "Stay here."

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Shawn's friend Mindy hasn't shown up yet," he answered, moving away. "If you hadn't shown up to one of my matches after ten minutes, I'd be worried. So stay here, babe."

Lauren frowned slightly, knowing she couldn't get him to change his mind. She returned her focus to the match, seeing that Mikey had managed to summon three monsters aside from his Thunder Option Token already on the field.

-0-0-0-0-

Even with a duel going on, the halls were still somewhat busy. The vendors still had customers, and the gift shop was full of tourists. His footsteps clapping on the marble floor, Derek began his search for the seemingly missing girl.

As he scanned every corner and doorway for five minutes straight, he could hear the screams of astonishment from the audience as Shawn and Mikey's match continued. He really wanted to watch Shawn's match, to be there for him and for personal gain, but he figured this would help them both out in the long run. Ever since he met Shawn, he's had a feeling that he was somehow different from the other duelist hopefuls he'd met. This tournament would either prove him right, or shatter his hopes for a successor.

Passing another corridor, he still found nothing. _Where could she be? The bathroom? I doubt she'd be taking this long. Did she leave? But where would she go if that was the case?_ Happening upon a security guard, he brought up the situation to him.

"Yeah, the young girl with pink hair? I saw her head toward the lower level with a couple odd looking fellows," the guard said. "I thought to call it in, but she didn't look like she was being forced."

A sharp realization hit Derek, and he took off running. _Those Ghouls must have her. There's no telling what they'll do to her. I have to hurry._ He increased his speed, passing by another guard and a few groups of people who were wondering where he was taking off to in such a hurry. He couldn't be bothered to answer any questions people might've had.

Hopping down a flight of stairs, he arrived on the lower level of the stadium. This level was mostly empty, save for the cleanup crew and a couple guards, but something seemed off. He looked closer and saw that all of them were lying on the floor motionless, except for their chests rising and falling as they breathed. There was a door all the way at the end of the long tunnel that had a CLOSED FOR CLEANING sign on it. Knowing that the cleanup crew was unconscious, Derek headed toward the door.

He ripped the sign down, pushing the door open to see Mindy tied to a chair, also unconscious. "Mindy!" he expelled, lifting her head up with one hand as he tugged at the knot with the other.

Her head rolled to the side as she ever so slowly creaked her eyes halfway open, a blurry mess turning into a dingy room with Derek in front of her. "…D-Der…ek…?" She lifted her head up gradually, her constraints releasing her and her body falling forward into his arms. He held her comfortingly in his stiff arms, peering up to him with dazed eyes, her vision going in and out. Through the tiny moments where she could faintly see his face, she saw a warm smile looking down at her.

"It's gonna be okay now," Derek cooed softly, bringing her up and carrying her out of the room. _She's got a big bump on the back of her head, but it doesn't look like she's lost any of her memory. I wonder where the Ghouls are. Surely they wouldn't kidnap her for no reason._

Mindy's arms wrapped around his neck, her body pulling in closer to him as he carried her. At first he didn't know how to react to her being so close and touching him, but he pushed past the feeling and got to the middle of the room, just as two Ghouls showed up, wielding lead pipes.

Snickering, the one on the left waved his pipe around. "Looks like our plan worked, Moe. We got him right where we want him."

"You're right, Harry," said the other one. "Now we can take care of business and have a little fun with the girl before our master calls upon us again…"

_That's pretty sick._ "I knew this was a trap. It's sad, though. The two of you came down here for nothing. I won't go down and I won't let you have her." Derek looked around the tunnel-like area, finding a bench to place Mindy on.

He didn't have much time before the Ghouls attacked, both of them charging at him with their lead pipes raised. He narrowly dodged the first pipe, but was struck on the shoulder with the other. Ignoring the pain, he shoved Moe into the floor, yanking his pipe from him, spinning, and chucking the pipe into Harry's gut, bending him over. Moe recovered, tripping Derek. He and Derek struggled on the floor, each one holding the other back from getting up.

While Derek was distracted by Moe, Harry exhaled sharply, the pain from his gut causing him to limp as he moved toward Mindy. He ran his pipe along her leg, then brought it up, preparing to strike her.

Mindy lay on the bench, frozen with fear on top of being too dizzy to move. She could barely make out the lead pipe above her. With a roar, it came down. She closed her eyes, hearing it smack into a human body, but she felt no pain. It wasn't her that the pipe hit.

"How cute!" Harry exclaimed, laughing as he lifted his pipe from Derek's back. "He saved his girlfriend from being hit this time." He raised the bat again.

Mindy forced her eyes open, seeing Derek stretched over her, protecting her from the Ghoul's assault. The pipe came down again, and she watched him wince in pain, gritting his teeth as he bore the pain in order to keep her safe. He fell onto her as the pipe hit his ribs this time. She could feel his heart beating incredibly fast. _I'm sorry, Derek…_ Through the agony, he managed to turn his head to her and give that same warm smile from before.

The second Ghoul snarled and readied his pipe, but a golden flash blinded everybody in the room. When it disappeared, both of the Ghouls were on the floor, and an athletic built man stood at the edge of the stairs, his silky brown bangs covering his nose and parts of his dark blue eyes. Hanging in a golden locket around his neck, slightly glowing, was the card Mirage Knight. The card's glow faded, and the man stepped over to Derek and Mindy, turning Derek over to examine his injuries.

Derek protested, pointing to Mindy. "I'm fine… Just get her and let's go."

The man hesitantly obliged, picking up Mindy and walking with Derek to the stairs.

-0-0-0-0-

Hissing, Mikey shuffled the cards in his hand impatiently. "I pass."

Shawn took up the reigns, drawing. On his side of the field, he had two face-downs in the back row, and his Cyber-Tech Alligator equipped with Amulet of Ambition. Mikey's field has his Thunder Option Token, Big Core, and his two back row cards. "Since your Big Core relies on its counters to keep itself from being destroyed in battle, I'll have to get rid of them before I can get to your Life Points, so attack his Big Core, Cyber-Tech!"

Cyber-Tech Alligator's crackling blast knocked one of the three counters into oblivion above Big Core, bringing it another turn closer to oblivion, and Shawn all the more closer to winning.

Mikey didn't seem too worried, gripping his next card. "Draw." His face contorted into a toothy grin as he switched the position of a card on his Duel Disk. "I switch my Big Core into Attack Mode! Bet you didn't see that coming, did you?" On the field, his monster's metal wings unfolded and its cannons mobilized. "Next I play Limiter Removal, doubling all my Machine-Type monster's attack points." Big Core's attack rose to 5000, and Thunder Option Token's rose to 3400. "Now I'll attack your Cyber-Tech Alligator with Big Core!"

Shawn braced himself as Big Core's cannons lit up, blasting his Cyber-Tech Alligator with millions of bright pellets, shattering it. He composed himself again, waiting for Mikey's next move.

[Shawn: 400] – [Mikey: 2800]

"Now to finish you off with my Thunder Option Token!"

Shawn whipped his hand out, flipping one of his face-downs up. "Not so fast! I activate Birthright! This allows me to bring my Cyber-Tech Alligator back to the field in Attack Mode!"

"It's no use! You'll still lose!" Mikey laughed as his Thunder Option Token's rocket collided with Cyber-Tech Alligator.

"I don't think so! Go, Justi-Break!"

"Justi-Break!" Mikey's face was priceless, and the audience noticed, split down the middle; some were laughing at his surprise, while others were gasping along with him.

The purple card flipped up, and dull lightning struck Cyber-Tech Alligator, empowering it. Its muscles bulged and it grew in size slightly. Shawn was happy to explain its effect. "Let me explain. This devastating Trap Card can only be activated when you attack one of my Normal monsters. When you do that, this card destroys every monster except face-up Normal monsters in Attack Mode! Take that!"

Mikey couldn't react more appropriately as Cyber-Tech Alligator took the full force of Thunder Option Token's rocket to its chest, absorbing the blast. The robotic-enhanced pterodactyl crossed its arms, then threw them out, emitting a shockwave of lightning and fire, ripping through all of Mikey's monsters violently and tossing him backwards onto the floor.

Once the dust settled and the smoke from the shockwave cleared, Mikey hobbled back to his place, visibly shaken as his entire field of monsters was cleared in one foul swoop.

Shawn took this opportunity to begin his turn. "Since you've got no moves left, I'll be taking the liberty of ending this duel, so I equip my Cyber-Tech Alligator with the Spell Megamorph, doubling his attacking power to 5000, more than enough to obliterate what's left of your Life Points! Attack, Cyber-Tech Alligator! Finish him off!" _And that's game._

Cyber-Tech Alligator's chest lit up, an orb of light sliding up through its neck and into its mouth, illuminating its razor teeth. Mikey turned and high-tailed it toward the audience behind him, but he couldn't escape the electric fireball from his opponent's monster. It hit him straight in the back, causing him to faceplant, his Life Points falling to zero.

The referee was quick to raise his hand and do his job. "Shawn Smith is the winner of this duel!"

Although the crowd cheered wildly for him, all he cared about was seeing Mindy again, yet she wasn't there, and now neither was Derek. _I can't believe this. Only Lauren saw me waste this guy. That sucks._ He put on a face for the crowd, waving triumphantly as he left the arena floor.

He soon arrived up in the stands where Lauren was, clearly wondering where everybody had gone. Lauren explained the situation as worry-free as she could, but Shawn knew something was wrong. Mindy wouldn't intentionally miss his first match, and Derek would want to have as much knowledge of his opponent as possible.

"I have to find them before something awful happens," he told her, running out through an exit.

"I'm coming, too, then!" Lauren shouted, running after him. _My partner's missing, too, you know._

She almost hit him as he stopped right in the exit, in front of a man with a golden card hanging from his neck. Lauren almost choked as she saw the man.

"Excuse me, sir," Shawn said, trying to get past the man. "I'm in a hurry."

"Gavin…?" questioned Lauren.


	8. Friends Become Foes

**Chapter 8: Friends Become Foes**

**Summary: Last time on YGO: RNC, the Battle City 2 Qualifier Tournament got underway, and the competition quickly became fierce. Don Gojira eliminated Tiencha Krillin in the first round, showing that he was a force to be reckoned with. In the second round, Shawn Smith went up against Mikey Boxtart, defeating him with his ace monster – Cyber-Tech Alligator. But while he was dueling, the dubious Ghouls captured Mindy for their sinister plans. Luckily, she was rescued by Derek and the mysterious Gavin. But just who is Gavin, and why did he help Derek?**

The silky-haired man stood stoically in front of Shawn and Lauren for a moment, staring at Lauren as if he was seeing an old acquaintance for the first time in many years. The stare was returned by Lauren, but hers was more of unexpectedness.

She began to lean in, at first looking as if she was about to fall over, but she instead embraced the man, exhaling deeply like it was the first breath of air she'd ever breathed. "I've missed you so much, Gavin. It's been forever. I couldn't wait to see you!"

The man gradually hugged her back, speaking sternly. "I need you both to come with me."

Lauren looked up to him, her eyes glimmering from the light bouncing off her tears. "What is it?"

He just looked down at her quietly, like he was trying to come up with the right combination of words to explain.

"There, you should be all right," said a old nurse as she patted the silver ice pack on Mindy's head. "You're lucky you didn't take another hit to the head or you probably would've lost some memory. Take it easy now."

Holding the ice pack to her head, Mindy thanked the nurse and hopped off the table. She and Derek had gone to the infirmary with another man, but he didn't appear to be there anymore. _Who was that man? And what was that flash of light?_

In the room across from hers, Derek lifted himself off the table, pain surging through him with each movement. He couldn't even breathe without a wave of pain pulsating through him. Despite this, he headed for the small table in front of the mirror, grasping his shirt. In the mirror's eye, he couldn't help but look at all of the bandages wrapped around his abdominal region.

_I can't believe I let them do that to me. I'm so stupid. I should've beaten them both easily. I won't let that happen again._ A new pain started in his head, hunching him over. It was similar to the pain he'd felt before in the bathroom, but this pain wasn't as intense. He shook his head in the hopes that it would leave him be, but when he stopped and peered into the mirror, he saw the man from before, only this time the man was connected to him, sort of like he was warping out of his body. _If I ever see those Ghouls again, I'll make them wish they'd never messed with me._ Surprisingly, it appeared as if the man was talking instead of him. _I'll smash their ribcages with spiked bats. We'll see who's laughing then._ The man chuckled sinisterly for a moment, but the pain resurfaced and he turned away from the mirror, disappearing and the violent speech ending.

There was a knock at the door.

Derek put his shirt on and opened the door, finding Lauren, Shawn, Mindy, and the Gavin outside his room. Before he could speak, Lauren practically tackled him with her hug. "Whoa, careful. Having five broken ribs and seven bruised vertebrates isn't exactly a party. It hurts just breathing."

"I'm so glad you're okay," Lauren spoke, her relieved voice muffled in his chest. "Gavin told me what happened. I can't believe those guys almost got away with what they were doing."

Derek pried her off him, and smiled down at her. "Don't worry about them. I don't think they'll be bothering us anytime soon. Speaking of which…" He looked to Mindy. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I'm fine. Just a bump on the head. Thank you for coming to find me."

Derek gave her a thumbs up, wrapping his other arm around Lauren. "And thank you, Gavin. You saved us both."

Gavin's expression remained indifferent. "You're welcome. Shall we get back to the tournament? There should be a duel going on right now."

Shawn practically jumped out of his pants. "Oh, yeah! I almost forgot about the tournament! I won my match, guys! I put the beatdown on that chump with my Cyber-Tech Alligator! You should've seen his face!"

"Congrats," Mindy commented, starting down the hallway. "Let's go watch the duel that's happening now. Maybe Sam will be dueling. I haven't seen him much since this thing started."

When Shawn and Mindy had left the area, Derek turned to Gavin, a serious look on his face. "So, Gavin, care to tell me what exactly happened down there?"

Lauren seemed confused by this. "What do you mean, Derek?"

Gavin put his hand to his hip, sighing. "I didn't want to reveal this until the finals had begun, but it looks like I have no choice. First you must promise me that you will not tell anybody what I'm about to tell you."

The two nodded, waiting impatiently for this big secret of his.

"A few months ago, a woman came to me requesting my assistance," he began, gently pushing them into Derek's room and shutting the door. "She was in search of a rare strain of cards that her brother had unknowingly created."

Rubbing Lauren's shoulder with his hand, Derek seemed intrigued by this story. "Go on. Who was she? What kind of cards is she searching for?"

"She asked me not to reveal her name until the time was right," Gavin answered. "As for the cards, well, to be frank, they're cursed."

Catching her attention, Lauren spoke, "Cursed cards? What are you talking about? Industrial Illusions is the only producer of Duel Monsters cards, and I can assure you none of the cards they produce are cursed."

"I know," Gavin continued. "It's hard to explain right now, but it'll all become clearer to you in time. What I can tell you about these cursed cards is that they supposedly bring out the darkness in one's heart."

_What does that mean?_ Lauren tilted her head to the side like a confused puppy. "That's crazy. How can simple trading cards do that?"

"Like I said, it's hard to explain right now."

"Well, can you tell us how many of these cards there are?"

"I'm not sure. There could be hundreds, or maybe only ten."

Derek added, "Why do I feel like there's another side to this story, like there are other people searching for these cards, too?

"You're right, there are others. After Marik was defeated at Battle City, his Ghouls were without a leader. Some returned to their normal lives, but others continued their ways. Soon after the tournament ended, one of the Ghouls took over the entire operation. His name was Zaron. Somehow he learned of the existence of these cards, and has been looking for them ever since."

"So how do we spot these cards?"

"You'll know it when you see it. That's all I can tell you right now."

Lauren sighed softly. "It's okay. I'm just glad to see you again. You never return my calls. I get worried about my big brother, you know."

For the first time since they'd met, Gavin warmed up, cracking a smile at his sister. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to make you worry. I just didn't want the Ghouls to use you against me if I was ever compromised."

"Don't worry about that," Derek said. "They won't get her as long as I'm here."

Gavin nodded and turned to the hallway. "I guess we should get back to the tournament. We still have matches to win, don't we?"

"Sure do. I hope you don't mind, but I've got my title to defend, so if we duel, I won't let you win."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you."

The group reunited in the bleachers, watching as the next match neared its apparent end. Sam was dueling some no-name, and was completely dominating him.

[Sam: 5600] – [Random: 200]

Shawn seemed more interested in the duel than anybody else. "Hey, that must be the deck he made for the tournament. It looks like it's done wonders for him in this duel."

Mindy wasn't as enthused as Shawn. Instead, she seemed more concerned. "Don't you notice something different about him, Shawn? He's toying with that kid. He could easily knock that kid out of the duel, but he keeps prolonging it."

Shawn took a closer look at the field. "I guess, but that could just be his strategy now."

"I don't think so," she said. "He's not like that. He respects his opponents. This just isn't him. Something's definitely different. I have to find out what." She stood up from her seat and headed down toward the ground level.

Shawn sprang up and followed her quickly, just as the match came to its end when Sam's Vampire Lord attacked the no-name kid directly.

"Do you think that Sam kid has a cursed card?" Lauren asked.

Gavin shook his head. "No, but I do feel an odd presence around him. I've felt it ever since this thing started." He narrowed his eyes as Sam met up with Shawn and Mindy on the floor. The three appeared to be having a slight dispute.

"What was that, Sam?" Mindy asked, confronting her friend. "You were messing with that kid the whole time, weren't you?"

Sam looked at her like she was a common peasant and he was a nobleman. "Get out of my way, Mindy. I don't have time for this." He tried moving further, but Mindy put her hands to his chest, stopping him. _I don't want to hurt you, Mindy. Please, just get out of my way._

"Not until you tell me what's going on. Why did you do that? There was no reason for it!"

Sam pushed her hands away rudely, moving past her. "It's none of your business." _I won't be stopped in my mission._

This time Shawn stood in front of him. "We're best friends, Sam, and because of that, it _is_ our business!"

Sam quickly snapped, "We're no longer best friends, Shawn. We're enemies. You got that?" He pushed Shawn aside, walking away. "I hope that we don't face each other, for I won't hesitate to bring you down in my pursuit." _It's for the best. I'm sorry._

"What are you talking about?"

Sam ignored Shawn's question and kept walking.

Shawn roared, "Fine! I hope we _do_ go up against each other so I can beat some sense into you!"

Mindy put a hand on his shoulder, calming him down a bit as the two walked back up to their seats with Lauren, Derek, and Gavin.

Clenching his fists, Shawn hunched over in his seat, his eyes closed. "I don't get it, Mindy. What happened to him? We were best friends!"

"We'll find out, Shawn," Mindy responded, moving in closer to him. "There has to be something affecting him that we don't know about…" _I know Sam is a good person. There has to be something we're not seeing._

Shawn continued brooding as the announcer tapped the mic, getting everyone's attention. As the audience perked up, he began to speak. "There will be two more matches today, folks! The rest of the Battle City 2 Qualifier Tournament will commence tomorrow afternoon, and a champion will be crowned! Now, onto the next match. It will be Kirk Lazarus battling Gavin McKnight! Let's get it on!"

The crowd cheered as a man in army camouflage made his way to the dueling floor. In the stands, Gavin stood up, preparing himself for his match, brushing his bangs out of his face for a moment.

"Good luck, bro," Lauren said as Gavin headed down the steps.

Leaning on Lauren's shoulder, bearing the pain of his injuries, Derek watched as the duel started, intent on learning about Gavin's dueling strategies. He'd never seen Gavin duel before, and had only read about his short championship run prior, but that was three years ago, so surely Gavin would've changed his style by now; no duelist uses the same strategies over and over in every duel. "Show me what you've got, Gavin."

Lauren leaned her head on Derek's, worried about him. _How can he still be so focused on the tournament after what just happened to him? I don't think I'll ever understand his kind of duelist. I just hope he doesn't push himself too hard._

Kirk had made his move already, summoning Cannon Soldier and setting one card in his back row. It was now Gavin's turn, and things were about to get intense.

"Mister Lazarus, I'll tell you now that you will lose this duel," Gavin said, drawing.

Kirk raised an eyebrow and spoke with his jolly yet hardened voice. "What? Boy, you're talkin' nonsense! My soldiers will fight till their last breath!"

Gavin hummed, scanning over his hand for strategies, even though he already knew the way he was going to end the duel. "First, I'll summon Masked Knight LV3 [3/1500/800] in Attack Mode!"

Generating out of its card was a short monster in knight's armor that seemed too big for it. Its arms were almost the length of its whole body, its huge shoulder pads overshadowing it. On its back was a stocky sword with angel-like wings extending from its handle.

"Hold on there, grunt! I activate Hidden Soldiers! This Trap allows me to summon a Level 4 or lower DARK-Attribute monster from my hand, and I choose my good old Chthonian Soldier [4/1200/1400], in Attack Mode! He may be a low-ranked member of my platoon, but he's still got enough power to thwart your strategy!"

As Kirk's new monster made its appearance, Gavin picked a card from his hand. "Your monster's special ability is pretty handy. I know what you're thinking. You think I won't attack it because then I'll take the same amount of damage as you would, but that's not entirely true. I will attack it."

"Are you crazy talkin'? You want to lose Life Points, grunt?"

"No, but I'm strategizing. If I attack your soldier with a stronger monster, I'll take quite a bit of damage, but if I attack it right now with my Masked Knight LV3, I'll only be taking 300 points of damage. It's the smarter route, don't you see?"

"Hot damn, you're one smart son of a gun! But don't think you'll win because you're smart. You have weak cards!"

Gavin sneered. "Weak cards, strong cards, that's all opinion. Even the weakest cards, as you so say, can serve the strongest purposes. Now, Masked Knight LV3, destroy his Chthonian Soldier with your Knight Saber Slash!"

Gavin's tiny knight took off toward Chthonian Soldier, gripping its miniature sword as it lifted itself off the ground and came down. The audience leaned in to get a closer view as the small sword was ripped from its sheath and plunged deep into the armored soldier's chest, the warrior dying on contact.

[Kirk: 3700] – [Gavin: 3700]

"With that, I'll place one card face-down and end my turn," Gavin said, simply placing the card into his Duel Disk and ending his turn as if this was something he did every day and was bored of it. "Your move, Mister Lazarus."

"Right on! I draw!" The wannabe soldier grabbed the card of his choice and put it on his Duel Disk, the sound of the card recognizer whining as the virtual hologram popped up. "I summon Kinetic Soldier [3/1350/1800] in Attack Mode, and then attack your pathetic knight! My soldier's special ability gives it 2000 extra attack and defense points when it battles a Warrior-Type monster, such as your knight! Hoo-rah!"

There seemed to be nothing Masked Knight LV3 could do as Kinetic Soldier loomed over it, putting its laser cannon to the knight's helmet. There was a pause before the soldier pulled the trigger, almost as if it understood the knight's urge to fight until death, and then it fired. The high-powered yellow bullet seemed to backfire on contact with the knight's helmet, ricocheting into the ceiling and plummeting into the audience. Some members hit the deck, but others acknowledged the fact that it was merely a hologram, and maintained their composure.

"What the heck? Why didn't my attack go through? You better explain this to me, grunt!" a flustered Kirk bantered, flexing his muscles angrily.

Gavin flipped the bangs out of his face, flatly responding, "While you were busy yelling orders, I was activating the special ability of my Honest card." He held up a card depicting an angel with humongous wings nearly enveloping itself, holding its glowing chest. "Whenever one of my LIGHT-Attribute monsters battles, I can discard him to have my monster gain attack equal to the attack of the monster its battling. You just lost 1,500 Life Points, Mister Lazarus." _And you're about to lose the rest of them._

[Kirk: 2200] – [Gavin: 3700]

"Well played, grunt! I'm promoting you to full-on soldier!"

This didn't matter to Gavin, who had winning in his sights. He stood complacently by, watching Kinetic Soldier's own bullet ricochet and blast it in the back of the head, splattering it into data. "Since your turn is over, I'll begin mine with something special. First, my Masked Knight LV3's ability activates, transforming him to Masked Knight LV5 [5/2300/1300]."

The knight glowed white for a second, morphing within the shroud of light into a taller being. When the light faded, a being with darker armor, more developed armor was in the place of the smaller knight.

Gavin continued, "Next is my Polymerization card that I set face-down last turn." His face-down moved upward, showing its design of two monster melding together into a point in the center of the card. "This allows me to fuse the Flame Swordsman and Dark Magician in my hand to form Dark Flare Knight [6/2200/800]." Jumping out of its card in a battle stance was the noble Dark Flare Knight, its long black cape fluttering in the wind its creation caused as it held its red hot sword in front of its pointed helmet.

The creation of this creature moved the audience. Whoops from the crowd could be heard, and some stood up to applaud.

Even still angry over his former best friend's actions, Shawn couldn't help but feel inspired by Gavin's monster. "Wow, that's an awesome card! Only a couple of my cards can beat that thing. Gavin must be really good to have that."

Mindy was happy to see that Shawn still showed signs of his usual self, even though he'd just lost a friend. _At least I know he won't be turning evil like Marik anytime soon._ "Yeah, and it's special ability is really useful. Any battle damage the controller of it receives becomes zero, and when it's destroyed, it summons Mirage Knight, one of the most majestic cards in the game."

Gavin folded his arms as his monsters attacked, having not even broken a sweat. _This duel was exactly like I thought. He didn't have a cursed card, and he wasn't really worth my time._ He looked up to the stands at Derek, who was being hugged by Lauren at the moment. _Lauren, if only you knew what you were getting into. Hopefully, I'll be able to prevent anything from happening in order to keep you safe._ He started leaving the arena floor as the referee announced his victory.

"And now it's time for the final round of the day, folks." The announcer paused, letting the tension build up. He pointed to the gigantic television behind him as it flipped on, images of the duelists still in the tournament zipping by as the randomizer worked. "Who will it be, folks?"


	9. An Unwanted Truth

**Chapter 9: Unwanted Truth**

The randomizer ate away at the tension of the audience as it pushed pictures of each duelist onto the screen, then took them away, teasing one's expectations. The first contestant was chosen abruptly, soothing some of the tension over.

With a whip, the announcer's hand went up. "The first contestant in the last match of today is Samantha Fenton! Who will be she be facing?"

Lauren played with Derek's belt while the randomizer kept going. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him breathing oddly. She looked to the others in the group, but they didn't seem to be aware of it. Leaning over, she whispered to him, "Babe, are you okay?"

He didn't answer at first, instead placing his elbow on his leg and leaning forward, supporting his head with his hand. He gripped her hand with his free one, creating worry within her. "I…I don't know what's…going on with me…My head is on fire…" _I have to…hold him in…for Lauren._

Lauren put the back of her hand to his forehead, feeling the sweat as their skin collided. _He's really burning up. He needs a doctor._ "Let's get you to the doctor. You probably have a high fever from your injuries." She carefully began pulling him to his feet when the announcer's voice rang out.

"Our very own state champion, Derek Myers!"

The crowd erupted at the mention of their champion. It was finally time to see him in action.

Derek put on as big a smile as he could through the agitation he was facing, and forced his fist into the air, holding back all the cringing his face was begging to do.

"The match will begin in ten minutes! Be ready!"

As most of the audience rushed out to get their food before the last match began, Shawn, Mindy, and the others stayed in their area, too concerned with Derek's worsening condition to leave.

"Please, Derek, don't duel," Lauren urged him, taking a piece of clothing from her handbag out to wipe some sweat from his face. "You're in no condition to do this."

"Yeah, listen to her, man," Shawn added, expressing his concern as well. "You need rest. You were just violently attacked."

Derek panted as he moved forward a little. "I've never backed down from a duel…and I won't start here. I'm the state champion…! My title, my reputation…all rides on this tournament." He groaned in pain, gripping his head and falling back into his seat. I _have to finish my duel quickly. I don't know how much longer I can take this._ "I'm sorry, Lauren."

Gavin observed all of this from the row behind them, noting Derek's strange behavior. My suspicions might be answered with this upcoming duel.

-0-0-0-0-

The announcement of the next match intrigued Don Gojira, who had found a square table to sit at in the café next to the main gift shop. On his tray was a cheese steak sandwich, a gyro, and a heaping bowl of onion rings. _So finally the state champ himself will be dueling. I can't miss this._ He vigorously gobbled up his gyro and started on the fried onion rings.

There was a rush of duelists as they all piled out to get their food in the downtime between matches. All of them paid no attention to Don except one.

"Gojira."

Don Gojira stopped eating, putting his sandwich down. He recognized that voice, even if it had gotten deeper since he'd last heard it. _I figured he'd confront me at some point._ "Sam, how long's it been? A couple months?" He could see Sam's fist ball up at this.

"Seven months," Sam said angrily. "I'm here to make you pay." _I'm sick of waiting. Screw the rules, this is happening now!_

Gojira stuffed another onion ring into his mouth, his chuckling being muffled by the food. "What? But all I have is my lunch money."

Sam snarled and put his fist out. "Don't play with me, Gojira! It's time to duel!" He jammed his deck into his Duel Disk and activated it.

"Hold on," Gojira said, sitting back and enjoying the last bit of his sandwich. He rubbed his stomach, smiling joyously. "Ah, that was great." He stood up. "Okay, so what did you want again? Sorry, I was busy with that fantastic cheese steak. Oh, yeah, you wanted to duel. Are you sure you want to duel right here? Perhaps we should go somewhere less crowded."

"No! We're dueling right here and you're going to lose! I'm going to destroy you so badly you'll never want to duel again!" _No, Sam! You can't duel him yet! You'll ruin the plan!_ "I have to do this. I can't wait anymore." _If you do this you'll be sorry! You don't want to know the consequences of this action, Sam._ "Let me do this!"

Gojira stood, watching Sam argue with himself. _What is this kid on?_

Sam finally backed down, his Duel Disk deactivating. He bowed his head and spoke through gritted teeth. "This isn't the last you'll see of me. We'll duel in the finals, assuming you make it." He took off as a crowd moved by.

"Yeah, whatever." Gojira turned and headed back toward the arena. _I can't believe I wasted five minutes of my time on that kid._

-0-0-0-0-

There were only two minutes left before Derek's match, but his condition hadn't gotten any better. His temperature had risen, and dark bags had begun to form under his eyes. He was hunched over in his seat, holding his head with his hands, his fingers spread throughout his hair, messing it up.

Lauren scooted closer to him, rubbing his back gently, her eyes filling with water.

Shawn didn't know what to do, and Mindy had gone for a doctor, but hadn't returned yet. Gavin still observed from the row behind them as if he was waiting for something more to happen.

"Where's that doctor?" Lauren asked, frantically searching the room with her eyes. "There's only one minute left before his match…!"

Derek sounded as if he was growling as he strained to pull himself up. His voice was lower, almost a bit damning. "All right, I can do this."

Lauren got in his path, hugging him. "I don't want you doing this. You'll be hurt even worse than you are now. Please, don't…"

"I have to," he said, moving forward with her still hugging him. "I'm sorry." He leaned his head down, gently caressing her face with his hand. "I'll be fine. Trust me. When this is all finished, we'll go somewhere – wherever you want to go – and take a vacation. I promise."

Knowing she couldn't talk him out of it, Lauren gradually let go, sighing in defeat. "Fine, but you better win then!"

The lights in the room began to dance, signifying that the duel was slated to start momentarily. The room began to fill up once more, and the anticipation started to build.

The announcer rose up on a platform, putting the mic to his mouth. "This is it, folks! The final match of the day! Will the contestants please make their way to the floor?" He waited until Samantha and Derek had arrived and taken their places. "Let the match begin!"

Derek immediately got into his battle stance as best he could with his injuries, looking over his hand for an opening strategy. _Let's see…I've got some good Trap Cards to start things off, but my monsters are lacking._ He slipped a card into the bottom row of his Duel Disk. _I'll just have to play conservatively for now._ "I place one card face-down, and then summon Sangan [3/1000/600] in Defense Mode!"

Appearing on the field before him was a furry brown creature with three yellow eyes and tiny green limbs that ended in sharp claws. It crouched down in a defense position, its fur covering most of its long feet.

"Your move," Derek said, using the back of his hand to wipe some sweat from his brow. His legs were a bit wobbly, but he successfully hid this from the viewers.

Samantha was a small girl, even shorter than Shawn, who had large glasses and a long T-shirt that read BIG DREAMS on it. She couldn't have been much older than 12, if that. "Okay, let me see what I can do here. I know! I have to get rid of your face-down card first, don't I?"

Derek gasped slightly. _She's so young, yet she's making an intermediate move already._

The small girl used Mystical Space Typhoon, blowing away Derek's hidden Bottomless Trap Hole.

"Then I'll summon the great warrior Kojikocy [4/1500/1200] to the field in Attack Mode!" The red man formed on the field, growling like a mad Viking with his sword in hand. "Kojikocy, attack his Sangan!"

The big brute ravaged the tiny creature, slashing it right in half. It raised its sword and gave a battle cry afterward, returning to Samantha's side of the field.

Derek panted, saying, "You've activated Sangan's special ability. Whenever he's sent from the field to the Graveyard, I can add one monster with 1500 or less attack points from my deck to my hand." He removed his deck from its holster on the Duel Disk, sifting through the possibilities. "I'll add Obsidian Dragon to my hand. Are you finished?"

"Nope," she chimed. "I'll lay two face-downs first. Now you can go!"

"That was an amateur mistake, Samantha," Derek scolded, holding out a card for her to see before placing it into his Duel Disk. "I activate Heavy Storm! This destroys all Spell and Trap Cards on the field." A great wind blew up, sprinkled with raindrops and random debris. It all culminated into a single tornado, crashing over Samantha's back row, completely shredding the cards into digital bits. "Now that that's done, I can summon my Obsidian Dragon [4/800/2100] in Defense Mode, and set one card face-down…" He stumbled forward a bit as his cards appeared, the audience holding their breath for a moment. _This is getting worse with every card I play._ He looked down at his hands, noticing they were shaking. _I can't even hold my hands still. I have to end this quickly, but I don't have anything powerful enough to do it yet!_ "Y-your move."

Samantha jumped up in glee as her turn began. "Awesome! I'm going to equip my Kojikocy with Dragonic Attack and Assault Armor, raising his attack power to 2300! Now I can beat your dragon!"

The Viking, now glowing a dark gold, savagely slashed into Obsidian Dragon, the dragon's cries echoing as it was attacked and destroyed mercilessly.

Derek fell to one knee as his monster disappeared, grasping his chest firmly, his nails digging into his skin through his shirt. _Christ, my heart…! Something's going on. It's like when my monster was destroyed, I could feel its pain…_

Lauren shot up from her seat at this, but Gavin put a hand on her shoulder. She turned to him, a lone tear sliding down her soft, peach-colored skin. "I have to stop him, even if it means disqualifying him."

Gavin shook his head. "No, you can't. I don't want you getting hurt."

"Hurt? He's the one hurt!"

"His cursed card is doing this. If you go down there, it might hurt you, too. I won't let that happen, Lauren. You're staying here."

Lauren's eyes widened and she turned around slowly back to the duel. "He's got a cursed card…But…"

"We have to let this finish. I'm sorry."

"What's a cursed card?" Shawn asked, spinning around. "It sounds awesome!"

Mindy hit him on the shoulder lightly. "It's obviously not. Connect the dots. Derek's hurting, and Gavin says it's because of the cursed card." _I knew something was up ever since I saw him duel at the card shop._

"Oh, yeah…Sorry…So what is it?"

Gavin looked at him. "I'll tell you later. Right now, we need to hope Derek can fight the power of the card."

Still kneeling on the floor, Derek moaned in pain, trying to get back up. The referee stepped over to him, asking if he wanted to continue the match. Fearing disqualification, Derek forced himself to his feet, panting worse than before. The referee backed off.

"Are you okay, mister?" the child asked, tilting her head.

Derek grinned. "Never felt better. Finish your move."

"Then I activate Assault Armor's effect. By sending it to the Graveyard, Kojikocy can attack again!" The warrior leapt forward, planting the butt of its sword into Derek's chest, pushing him to the floor again.

[Derek: 2000] – [Samantha: 4000]

Derek made a quick recovery, drawing his card. "I summon Archfiend Soldier [4/1900/1500]…in Attack Mode!"

"Hold on," Shawn said, rubbing his chin. "His monster is still weaker than that girl's. Why did he bring it out?"

"He must have a plan," Mindy said, also wondering what Derek was doing. "Let's just watch and see." _Come on, Derek. Fight it._

Derek slid a card into his Duel Disk, noting how his fingers were twitching now. "I'll weaken your Kojikocy with my Shrink card, cutting its attack in half. Now, attack, Archfiend Soldier!"

Its cape gliding behind it, Archfiend Soldier made its move, lunging into Kojikocy and knocking it to the ground. Before the red warrior could get back up, a jagged, demonic sword was jammed into its gut and ripped up, splitting the warrior in two.

Samantha cried out as her monster was destroyed, falling over onto the floor, appearing unconscious. The audience all got to their feet, fearing for the young girl's health.

Derek's jaw fell open as he saw what his monster did. He started off toward the girl, but the referee's booming voice stopped him.

"Hold it! Physical contact between competitors outside of card effects is forbidden! You will be disqualified if you touch her!"

_But I did this to her. I hurt her!_ He pleaded, "She needs a doctor! Call the match, ref!"

The referee nodded, raising his hand and then shifting it toward Derek. "Derek Myers is the winner!"

Instead of cheers and whoops, the audience was silent, watching intently as Derek and medical staff rushed to the girl. Derek lifted her up, brushing her long brown hair out of her face and checking her pulse. The medical staff moved in, taking the girl from his arms and placing her on a stretcher.

As the medical staff hurried away, a high-pitched screech went off in Derek's head, bringing him to his knees. The referee was about to announce something when he saw this and stopped. Derek seethed in discomfort as something began clawing its way to the surface inside him. He lazily got up, running out of view of the audience.

"Derek!" Lauren called out fretfully, bolting down the steps and turning the corner after him.

"Lauren, no!" Gavin swiftly followed.

Shawn and Mindy looked to each other before silently coming to a conclusion that their friend was in trouble and needed help. Mindy stood up first, getting into the aisle, but as Shawn got up, he noticed a group of Ghouls heading his way from another aisle.

"This can't be good." Mindy gripped Shawn's hand. _What are we going to do? Derek and Gavin are preoccupied, and me and Shawn can't handle a whole group of those guys...!_


End file.
